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WILLIAM W. ABER. 



The Mystical Quadruple Interrogatory. 

HOW? WHAT?? WHENCE??? WHITHER???? 



Concerning' the Existence of Man, and all Things, and all Being, and all 

Life, so far answered by the Contents of this Book as to 

suggest for an appropriate Title, to-wit: 

RENDING THE VAIL 

This Volume is a compilation by p. HT'NIXON of Psychic 

Literature, mostly given by Spirits through 

and by means of 

Full-Form Visible Materializations, 



At Seances of a certain Psychic Research Society 
known as the 



ABER INTELLECTUAL CIRCLE, 

The Medium being 

WILLIAM W. ABER. 

It is believed that 

RENDING THE VAIL 



Is the only Book in the World, as a Scientific Treatise of Phenomenal 
Spiritualism, claiming its principal matter to be uttered 
by EXCARNATE HUMAN SPIRITS while in 
condition of VISIBLE REINCAR- 
NATE FORM. 



publishers: 
hudson-klmberly publishing co. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
1899. 






45076 




Copyright 1899 by 
J. H. NIXON, SPRING HILL, KA.S. 

TWO COPIES RECE1 v 




^1 ^U 



BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY. 

I was born November 15, 1861, at Yates Center, Orleans 
County, New York. My father died when I was two and a half 
years of age, leaving mother with several children. When father 
was about to die, he said: "I am willing now to go. My boy 
William will carry out my ideas of mediumship." 

At the age of seven, mother took me and the other children 
to Alpena, Michigan. Five years later, the family removed to 
Griffin, Cherokee County, Texas. I then went to Salem, Texas, 
there running a steam engine four months; then went back to 
Griffin for a few weeks. 

Thence I went to Palestine, Texas, with a brother, who is 
now at Rochester, New York. At Palestine, I worked on a 
fruit farm for a Mrs. Hitchcock. While working there, mother 
came out to see me. While there, she and a few others formed 
a circle and were holding a seance. Observing them, I asked to 
know what they were doing, and received for answer: "We will 
inform you later." I replied: "I know — you are holding a 
spiritual seance." 

I then, Shortly, went home; and, with mother, brother, and 
brother's wife, moved to St. Louis. I worked as an apprentice at 
cigar-making. Then I took a job as a journeyman for a few 
months and went on a strike. And then I went back to Texas, 
and at Troupe I ran a sawmill engine. I was a sickly boy, but 
remained at this mill business four or five months. 

Thence I went back to St. Louis, at cigar-making. I was at 
St. Louis, this time, but a little while when something said to 
me: "You must leave. Mother sent me after you to go back to 
Texas. She has been caught in a wreck." When I arrived where 
mother was, I told her about the voice that spoke to me. I told 
her that there had always been someone with me. She knew 
what it was, and told me it was either father or brother. 

Next I went to Topeka, Kansas, to my sister, then living 
there. I looked for a position, but, finding none, I went into the 
cigar business; but soon saw that it would fail, so I went home 
one evening despondent. 

It had been discovered that my niece was a medium for 
table-tipping. I fold them I must have some evidence. They 
had been sitting and were talking about it. I said : "I need help 
now. If they can rap on that table, I will know more about it." 
So I questioned: "Is it father?" No response. "Is it brother?" 
"Yes." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 3 

The seance continued until I was prevailed on to visit Mrs. 
Holladay. In her seance I felt a strange sensation. I saw a 
mist, then a form that was my brother. I had him by the hand. 
He went as he came. I looked on it as real. Mrs. Holladay said 
I was a medium. 

I then arranged for seances of my own. It was one year 
before I was sufficiently developed for the public, but I was 
being put under all kinds of test conditions with success all the 
time. Spirits urged that I follow it, and it would not be a great 
while until they would be able to produce great results. So, in 
1882, I went before the public, at Topeka. I would be entranced 
when resisting it, so that I would fall to the ground in an un- 
conscious condition. Whatever I might determine upon, or 
design to do, I was carried right on in the line of mediumship. 

As to my developments at Spring Hill, Kansas, that matter 
is set out elsewhere in this book. 

From 1S92 to October, 1897, I was engaged at various places 
as a phenomenal medium, but mostly in various parts of Texas, 
attending camp-meetings in Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa. 

While traversing Texas I met Miss Sallie Whiting, and on 
May 30, 1S94, she and I w 7 ere married, at Dallas, Texas, as the 
records there w T ill show; since w T hich time she has ever accom- 
panied me in my tours of mediumship. 

William W. Aber. 



STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY. 

It will be observed that this biography shows no educational 
advantages whatever, and we know that Mr. Aber had little 
habit of studying or reading any kind of literature, except that 
he did study photography and telegraphy to some extent in 1891 
and 1892. The principal source of knowledge to this medium 
has been reports of his own seances rehearsed in his hearing; and, 
to some extent, clairaudience has assisted him; but during his 
phenomenal seances he is, most of the time, in unconscious 
trance. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



IN TWO PARTS. 



Part First: 

Minutes, descriptions, and explanations of occurrences at 
seances of the Psychic Society known as the Aber Intellectual 
Circle, and copies of some of the writings, vocalizations, portraits 
of materializations, diagrams, and etchings produced by full-form 
visible materializations. 



Part Second: 

A compilation of psychic writings, vocalizations, and spirit 
orations referred to in Part First. 

Rending the Vail, it is believed, is so arranged as to need 
no introduction and explanation other than the reader can readily 
obtain by direction of its marginal references and its rather copious 
index to matter set out in the book. 

This much, however, of explanation may be of service to 
some readers: No effort has been made in editing to compile 
seriatim, other than the order in which the matter was given and 
recorded originally, farther than to separate the principal writings 
and orations, and placing each author's productions in a body of 
appropriate credit. This necessitates the book in two parts. 

The reader will find in this book a sharp criticism of the 
popular assumption of creative energy, not stopping, however, 
at negation, but setting forth the great affirmative psycho-scien- 
tific atomic antithetical assumption, to-wit: That 

"The atom centers in itself properties of all forms and con 
ditions of actual existence; is the central point from which all 



RENDIXG THE VAIL. 5 

creative energy proceeds; the basis of all that manifests form; 
holds within ITSELF the key to unlock the portals of individu- 
ality, and contains all laws of force; is, therefore, eternally self- 
existent." See paragraphs 1240-1242, 2695. 

That life and spirit are not the result of material form and 
organization, but the cause of it all; and 

That all material form is but clothing of the indwelling spirit, 
according to the needs of its evolutionary attainments; that life is 
not the result of evolution, but that evolution is the unfolding by 
aggregation of power, force, law, life, and intelligence eternally 
innate to the atom, 

And, finally, that this book shows future life of mankind in 
continued conscious individuality to be a demonstrable reality, 
tracing the same from its innate atomic existence along evolution- 
ary lines through carnate form to highest excarnate angelhood. 

HOW TO USE INDEX AND REFERENCE NUMBERS. 

Note that paragraphs are marked and located by figures, 
numbers, and letters placed in the left margin and generally at 
the beginning of the paragraph or section; and figures, numbers, 
and letters in the right margin refer the reader to corresponding 
figures, numbers, and letters to be found in their order in the left 
margin, locating the paragraph containing the matter of reference. 

EXAMPLE. 

Thus: In reference to the seance-room, arena, position of 
sitters, medium, the number 1170 at the right margin means: See 
the paragraph numbered 1170 found in its seriatim order in the 
left margin, and on looking there is found a diagram of the seance- 
room illustrating much peculiar to what are called spiritual seances. 

Concerning any word, phrase, phenomenon, or matter pecu- 
liar to psychic science of which the reader may desire a better 
understanding, a liberal use of the general index found at the 
close of this volume, it is believed, will generally make the mat- 
ter plain. Thus: Should the query be concerning the "Book 
of Psychic Ether," in the index will be found this line, to-wit : 
"Book of Psychic Ether, 2541-2552, " which means, examine all 
the paragraphs from 2541 to 2552, inclusive. Turning to those 
paragraphs and reading the whole matter there set forth will 
secure a clear definition. 



PREFATORY STATEMENT. 

1. J. H. Pratt, his wife, Josephine Pratt, and Mrs. Phoebe 
Smith, all then of Spring Hill, Kansas, having heard of one W. 
W. Aber, of Topeka, Kansas, as being a medium for the phenom- 
ena of so-called spirit materializations, succeeded in securing 
the services of this said medium for that capacity, commencing 
the seances in September, 1888, at the residence of the said J. 
H. Pratt, where the said Mr. Aber thenceforth made his home, 
holding seances there almost daily, to June, 1890. 

2. The phenomena presented at these seances were, the 
greater portion of them, what are called "bust shadowy forms" 
shown at the cabinet window. 

3. To these seances the public were invited, and many at- 
tended; but, for want of more information as to the nature of 
the phenomena, but few pursued their investigations to a definite 
conclusion. 

4. A few persons, however, saw, from close and careful at- 
tention, that the medium did not, in any fraudulent manner, 
have anything to do with the production of the phenomena, 
neither as principal nor by mortal confederate. 

5. Some of the "bust shadowy forms" shown at the cabinet 
window were enabled to write, and also to talk in a whisper, and 
could both talk and write in "tongues" much beyond the knowl- 
edge of the medium and of any person in the circle. 

6. About December, 1889, these bust forms began to talk 
and write of having a design to furnish, through full-form visible 
materializations, matter for a book, and urged that a circle be 
organized for the purpose of giving the spirit world an opportu- 
nity of conditions to that end. 

THE BEGINNING. 

Seance No. 1. 

May 28, 1890. 

7. At evening-time, and at the residence of J. H. Pratt, Mr. 
Pratt and wife, Mrs. Phoebe Smith, and J. H. Nixon began a 
series of meetings with this medium, under promise of the spirits 
(for we had come to so regard them) that, if we would prove 
faithful to them, we would be amply rewarded in rare phenomena. 

8. The medium being entranced and taken into the cabinet, 
bust forms appeared at the window, as usual, to eight in number, 
all very brilliant and recognized. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 7 

9. Then the cabinet door opened and ten full-form material- 
izations in quick succession appeared to our sight in the room. 
Some of them were very plainly seen by us all. They all spoke 
to us: some aloud, in good oral speech, and some in a whisper; 
some also spoke through the trumpet while standing in our sight, 
the form of the spirit holding the trumpet in its hands, as any 
person would for such purpose; and we also know this form of 
speech as "the voice of the trumpet." 

10. Some of the forms walked out of the cabinet, at the 
cabinet door, advancing into the room five or six feet; others, 
to about three feet from the cabinet door. Each talked a 
moment, then stepped back into the cabinet; and as one would 
be passing into the cabinet another would be passing out, so 
that we could see two meet and pass each other in the cabinet 
doorway. 

11. As remarkable to us as anything we had ever seen of 
psychic phenomena was that, at a point on the carpet about three 
feet from the cabinet doorway, between us and the cabinet front, 
in the clear vision of us all, there appeared something like a small 
white mist, which gradually increased in size, density, and 
brilliancy; then gradually arose, elongating from the floor until 
some five feet high, and there assumed human shape, until 
finally there unfolded the form of a man fully and genteelly 
clothed, of rather small stature (as near as we could judge, five 
feet five or six inches tall), with dark hair and whiskers, and a 
countenance sparkling with intelligence. 

12. This form took especial care in turning its head about 
and pointing to the region of the front brain where phrenologists 
locate causality, which we could clearly discern to be of great 
prominence in outline. 

13. This form found a voice, saying: "Please get me a 
slate." None of us knew just where to find one. The form 
beckoned one of the circle to look in the northwest corner of the 
room, and there a slate was found, and then placed on the table 
by which the form was standing. 

14. This form then stooped and took the pencil in its right 
hand and wrote upon the slate. We could all plainly see the 
motions of the form and hear the pencil writing. Then the form 
took the slate up, turned it over, and stood erect, holding the 
slate in its left hand, and wrote with the pencil in its right hand; 
then laid the pencil on the slate and the slate on the tabic 

15. Again standing erect, looking upward, the form began 
to go down, as though passing through the floor: and so 
descended until the chin whiskers touched the carpeting, when 
the entire head form vanished out of our sight. (37.) 

16. We now examined the slate, and found on one side of it 
the words, "William Denton"; on the other side of the slate the 
words, "We will do all we can"; and the signature. "Denton." 



8 BENDING TEE TAIL. 

17. Such was the beginning of writing, here, by what we 
now recognize to be "full form visible materializations"; that is, 
writing done by persons who, after having undergone the death 
change, appear to us in this series of seances, and "stand again" 
and write in our presence and in our sight, as plainly and clearly 
discernible to us and by us as would or could be possible for 
what is generally called mortal man to be discernible at writing 
in like attitude and light. 

18. The light is such as to make all persons, of common 
vision, in the mortal, in the room at the time, clearly discernible 
to each other. 

Seance No. 2. 

June 5, 1890. 

19. Circle of the same persons as before. 

20. Medium seated in a chair, outside the cabinet, near to 
the cabinet doorway. 

21. Achromatic music organ wound and put to going. 

22. Light down to dim twilight. 

23. Medium entranced and taken into the cabinet and the 
cabinet door closed. 

24. Stand table, with vase of flowers, paper and pencil upon 
it, placed in front of and about two and a half feet from the 
cabinet doorway. 

25. Samuel Smidth, the cabinet colloquial control, speak- 
ing inside the cabinet, saying: "Turn on more light." 

20. The light, therefore, is turned up to the consistency of 
full twilight, so that there is sufficient light for persons having 
good eyesight to see to read common print. 

27. Something like a dense vapor appears in the cabinet 
doorway, seems to condense and unfold into a form of human 
shape, steps to the stand table, and, in a loud, distinct whisper, 
announces his name to Mr. Pratt as that of an old-time friend; 
finally Mr. Pratt -recognized this form, and it returned into the 
cabinet. 

28. Then a form came out, stood a moment, and vanished. 

29. Then appeared one who gave his name and was fully 
recognized by Mr. Pratt as his brother, who long ago passed to 
spirit life. 

30. Then came a form of the appearance of a tall woman, 
in very handsome attire, who gracefully walked out to the stand ; 
which form engaged in quite a lengthy conversation with Mr. 
Pratt touching matters to make her identity clear. Then another 
and yet another of Mr. Pratt's early acquaintances made their 
identity clear to him by such colloquy. 

31. Then there came out a form speaking in a whisper to 
Mr. Nixon, saying: "Good evening, brother." This was clearly 



REX MX G THE VAIL. (j 

recognized by Mr. Nixon as his sister Ann, who several years ago 
passed to spirit life. Mr. Nixon placed a small bouquet of flowers 
upon the stand table and said: "Sister Ann, please take thai 
to mother." The spirit said, "I will, brother," and returned 
into the cabinet, taking the flowers. 

32. In a few moments an elderly-looking lady form, in ap 
pearance, clad after the manner of the women of the "Society of 
Friends," came out to the stand table, as bright-looking as if in 
the mortal form in good daylight, holding that little bouquet in 
her hand; and, addressing Mr. Nixon as "My dear son," threw t lie 
flow 7 ers into his lap; giving, in manners, gesticulations, and 
words, evidences of intense delight, and of identity, and was fully 
recognized, at last, as at least a complete facsimile of Nixon's 
mother, though she long ago made the transition. 

33. Next to emerge from the cabinet was a form claiming 
to be Priscilla Nixon, another sister of Mr. Nixon, and was by 
him identified as "sister Priscilla." who had passed to the morn- 
ing land forty or more years ago. 

34. These forms were, bv all of us, all seen and heard to 
talk. 

35. Then that form that represents itself to be William 
Denton, the geologist, psychologist, and psychometrist, stepped 
from within the cabinet to the stand table, took the slate and 
paper and pencil, and, in view and presence of us all, held the 
slate in its left hand (the paper being on the slate), and, with the 
pencil in its right hand, wrote upon that paper, then laid the 
pencil on the paper that was on 
the slate, and placed all together 
on the stand, and then retired 
into the cabinet. We found the 
names Fletcher Pratt, William 
Denton, and two others upon 
that paper; each name seemed 
in a different handwriting from 
the others. 

36. After Denton, a form like 
that of a woman gaily dressed, 
with hair tastefully arranged, 
stood to view and said to Mr. 
Pratt: "This is mother." 

Recognizing the identity, Mr. 
Pratt said: "Oh, yes — mother! 
That is — that must be mother. 
You used to wear that kind of 
dress, and have your hair so ar- 
ranged." At all of this the spirit M rs. pratt. 




10 RENDING THE TAIL. 

seemed in ecstatic delight, whispering: "Oh, my son, my dear son 
Howard! How glad I am to be able to meet you again! This is 
glorious!" 

37. Then this form slowly descended, as if passing down 
through the floor, feet first, until the chin reached the carpet; 
then, uttering the words "Good-bye," the head suddenly vanished 
out of our sight. (15.) 

38. Then there came forth a little girl spirit form that 
Mr. Pratt recognized as that of a foster-child. 

39. Next, the form of a woman, having in her arms a little 
child, was recognized by Mrs. Smith. 

40. As if wonders would never cease, there came forth the 
figure of a man, about four feet tall, deformed in one of the 
lower limbs, walking with a cane, making just such noise as a 
person in the same attitude would make walking over a floor. 
This form walked out from within the cabinet to the stand table, 
in the center of the room, and struck the chandelier three smart 
blows with his cane. We were not certain whether this cane 
was a common one or materialized. These three blows of the 
cane we interpret to signify "Yes" to the question of the final 
success of our investigations here. 

41. As this spirit returned into the cabinet there came out 
another spirit, which said to Nixon: "I. am thy father." All 
the others of the circle remarked: "He certainly looks like 
Nixon." Nixon then said: "Father, please be seated." The 
spirit said, "I will try," and then did sit down on a chair that 
was at the south end of the stand table, and sat there for two 
or three minutes, leisurely looking about the room, and, arising, 
returned into the cabinet. 

42. Immediately one came forth saying, "My name is 
Fletcher Pratt," and was recognized by Mr. Pratt as a brother. 
This spirit also sat down upon the chair a moment, then arose, 
and returned into the cabinet. 

43. These two forms last mentioned were seen to be several 
inches taller than the medium, and very dissimilar to him in 
expression and general appearance. 

44. Finally, a spirit, tall and venerable in appearance, 
standing at the little table in front of the cabinet door, addressed 
us in loud oral speech, in a deep bass voice, giving us words of 
comfort as to the glorious reality of spirit life and his name as 
Father King. Many other matters transpired at this seance 
which we need not mention here. 

45. The reader may bear in mind that, when we speak of a 
spirit form as appearing to us, unless we otherwise state, the 
spirit form returned into the cabinet before another appeared 
before us. 



V 



RENDING THE VAIL. 11 

Seance No. 3. 

July 17, 1800. 

46. The circle at this seance was composed of J. H. Prat t and 
wife, C. V. N. House and wife, Mrs. Dayton, Mrs. Phoebe Smith, 
and J. H. Nixon. 

47. Soon after Mr. Aber entered the cabinet, a spirit form 
appeared, which was recognized. Then eight forms, one after 
another; when soon the cabinet colloquial ordered preparations 
made for writing. 

48. Such preparations consisted of a stand table, on which 
was the music-box, and on the music-box a blank tablet, and the 
stand table placed near to the cabinet door and between the 
doorway and the circle; the circle being arranged in a semi- 
circle or crescent against the east and north walls of the room, 
while the cabinet was in the southwest corner of the room. (See 
diagram at 1170.) 

49. Then a spirit, announcing the name of Prof. Faraday. 
walked out of the cabinet to the stand table, took hold of tin- 
table, and, in plain view of the whole circle, wrote in the tablet 
his message No. 1. (See par. 2594.) 

50. Spirit Ur. Eeed, the medium's chemical control, also 
wrote an essay, being his No. 1. and placed at paragraphs 1231- 
1235, inclusive. 

51. Mr. Nixon took the pains to count his pulse during the 
writing, and since has counted the writing and timed his pulse- 
beats, and found thereby that Eeed wrote about two lines per 
second, averaging six and a half words to the line, twenty lines 
to the page, or nearly the astounding rate of six hundred common 
English words written in full in one minute. 

52. This writing alone ought to remove these manifestations 
above the region of fraud to any candid mind witnessing or 
receiving the facts. (See Faraday writing, par. 2594.) 

53. Prof. Hare and John Pierpont wrote an introductory, 
thus: 

54. "It is verily a pleasure that we come before yon, in 
vour midst, to demonstrate the continuance of life. 

55. "The incoherent powers used by us spirits to give these 
manifestations are difficult to explain; for it requires a skill in 
the manipulating of the elements that transcends present human 
knowledge; and, because of error, many living scientists affirm, 
in spite of repeated occurrences, that these phenomena are not 
within the jurisdiction of science. 

5G. "In solving problems of the human race, the scientists 
have no right to ignore phenomena — none to form conclusions 
respecting them which violate principles of Nature. 

5G. "It is a benefit to humanity seeking information 
through this channel. 



12 RENDING THE TAIL. 

57. "It opens the door to a comprehension of the fact of 
immortality. 

58. "It demonstrates this truth: that individuality is not 
altered by transition. 

59. "It gives to the mind dwelling on the earth sphere the 
true secret of progress. 

GO. "All of the ideas pertaining to immortal being would 
be in harmony if the means exist to prove this reality. 

70. "Yes, dear friends, how plainly the vail is drawn, so 
you mav see that your place in rank is well known bv us. 

(Signed) "Prof. Hare. 

"John Pierpont." 

71. A very noteworthy occurrence of this seance was that 
Sam, the colloquial, and his spirit boy, Fritzie, materialized; be- 
ing clothed with clownish costume, both stood side by side in the 
cabinet door in full view of the whole crescent. Sam declared, 
"I am going to have my picture taken," and took a tablet from 
the table, passed it into the cabinet, and ordered someone to 
take his picture; during the process keeping up his clownish 
speech, actions, and appearance, to our great amusement. 

72. In a few moments the tablet was handed to Sam from 
within the cabinet, having, so far as we could judge, a good 
picture of Sam and his boy Fritzie as they appeared to us when 
they were standing side by side in the cabinet door. (This picture 
is not inserted because of more emphatic work, later on; see 
portrait at par. 1160.) 

Seance No. 4- 

July 31, 1890. 

73. After a repetition of much of the preceding seances, 
a form, evidently, to us, a "materialization," dressed in ancient 
Greek attire, stood in the cabinet doorway, and one of the circle, 
at the request of the form, stood up by the side of the form and 
held a tablet open for the spirit to write in; and, while the 
tablet was so held, the spirit made a Greek writing, which is 
shown by the engraving at par. 1184. 

74. The reader may see that this writing contains one hun- 
dred and twenty-four Greek letters and the English words, 
"These visits must be frequent," preceding the Greek, "Daimon 
Porneiadz." Then this English: 

"We will try and do more for you the next time. Conditions 
are getting better. Thomas Paine." 

75. The person standing by the spirit form was five feet 
nine inches tall. It was clearly to be observed that this spirit 
was one or two inches taller than the person standing by it, and 
we know that Mr. Aber is four and one-half inches lower in 



RENDING THE VAIL. 13 

stature than the person that held the tablet. So that, as we 
reason, that spirit form could not possibly be Mr. Aber. 

76. None of us read Greek; but, by the aid of a Greek 
lexicon, we made this out of that writing: 

77. "It is truly advantageous for you, friends, we beseech 
earnestly, to clothe yourselves as with newly shorn wool. 

77. "Do not disavow a friend, even though from a brothel; 
he may have passionate longings. 

78. "Adore the supreme law as the Jesus — the searching 
God. 

79. "Guardian spirits beseech you to avoid idolatry, forni- 
cation, mammon worship." 

80. We do not pretend that the above is near to the correct 
interpretation. It is very probable that Paine understood the 
Greek, being a linguist; but, at this time, we had not seen this 
form so often as to be able to recognize it. 

Seance No. 5. 

August (), 1890. 
SI. This was, mostly, a materializing seance. 

82. One peculiarity was that a spirit friend of T. J. 
Haughey (Mr. Haughey being in the circle) changed the appear- 
ance of the color of his hair and whiskers from gray to jet black, 
instantaneously, in full view of the circle. Three times was the 
change made from black to gray and from gray to black. 

83. To remove all doubt from the mind of every person in 
the circle as to the possibility that these forms might be tic 
medium in some sleight-of-hand disguise, the control, Sam, re- 
quested that the heights of the several forms be measured and 
carefully noted. 

84. Mr. Aber is five feet four and one-half inches tall. 

85. Some of the forms were found to be six feet; one 
measured five feet and eleven inches; one five feet nine inches; 
one three feet. Aside from the actual measurement, it is as 
plain as possible to one of common observation witnessing these 
phenomena, that the height of the various spirit forms varies 
from one foot to six and a half feet. 

8G. Two tall forms, on this evening, standing in our sight, 
dematerialized downward till the head reached the floor; then 
the head, with the words "Good-bye/' vanished. 

87. This is a fact, certainly, beyond the power of any 
magician. Delusion is certainly not to be entertained for one 
moment, because the members of the circle (eight in number) are 
in constant free conversation, all the while, as to what is trans- 
piring, all agreeing as to seeing the same phenomenon at the same 
moment. And the spirit Sam is keeping up a lively merrimenl 
with his jokes and mirthful sayings. To us, who know the facts, 



14 RENDING THE VAIL. 

it can be nothing more nor less than what the phenomena claim 
themselves to be: spirit beings on the immortal side of life, striv- 
ing to reveal themselves as yet alive forever more. 

88. Another thrilling event of this seance was that, while 
the circle were singing the melody "We 're Going Home," there 
stood a spirit in the cabinet door whom we call Zechey, brother 
to Mr. Nixon, and sang with us in tones clear and loud, away 
above our loudest and highest key — be that to our utmost. 

89. Brother on this side singing face to face with brother 
on the spirit side of life! 

90. J. H. Nixon from the beginning of these seances kept 
record of the proceedings of each seance and read the record 
so kept of each seance to the circle at the next subsequent seance, 
and so is henceforth known as secretary. 

Seance No. 6. 

August 20, 1890. 

91. At this seance there were forty-one full-form material- 
izations, mostly of historic fame. Among them, Gibbon, Voltaire, 
Thomas Paine, Rousseau, Longfellow, Wm. Denton, Abraham 

Lincoln, and John Pierpont — as the forms themselves claimed — 
and most of them exceedingly brilliant in appearance of make-up. 

92. One, which we recognize as Father King, picked up the 
trumpet and spoke to us in such a strong-toned, loud bass voice 
as to vibrate the very walls of the house, saying: "Your work 
here is a most noble one, for which, however, some of you will 
be tried as by tire; but that those who continue faithful to the 
end, and with this work to the world, shall be rewarded an 
hundred-fold; and that the good waves you now set in motion 
will certainly follow you and you shall see and know them wash- 
ing glitteringly the sands beyond the sea!" 

92-J-. A very prominent feature of the evening was that very 
many of the materializations were exceedingly pantomimic — 
eloquently so; the movements of hands, arms, and body elo- 
quently graceful; the faces at times radiantly luminous above 
the light of the room, and the eyes seemed sparkling with delight. 

93. Brother Zechey (as we have learned to call him), stand- 
ing in the cabinet doorway, having his arms folded, asked us to 
sing the melody "We 're Going Home," and as we did so he joined 
with us, the spirit making such an harmoniously melodious bass 
as we had never heard before from human voice. 

91. It may be of some interest to the reader if we here 
relate a sample of the psychic tests as given by our colloquial, 
who is known and designated by the name of Sam. The secre- 
tary's father and mother long ago passed to spirit life, and their 
given names had not been known to the medium nor to any 
person attending the seance except the secretary. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 15 

Sam said: "Mr. Nixon, there is an old gentleman here for 
you. His name is Zechariah; he is your grosserfader" (grand- 
father). 

Sec.: "Well, that is the name." 

Sam: "He says your father's initial is T." 

Sec: "What does he say the full name is?" 

Sam: "He says it is Toms Nixon. He says that was your 
father's middle name." 

Sec: ''Father had no middle name." 

Sam: "Oh veil, it ought to be de middle name ony how. 
Dond't you ondershtand dot?" 

Sec : "Father had no middle name." 

Sam: "I say dot vash a middle name as a family relieum" 
(family relic). 

95. Here was an intellectual test that could hardly be sur- 
passed: The grandfather's name was Zechariah Nixon. The 
grandmother's maiden name was Martha Toms. To preserve the 
maiden name as a relic in the family, the youngest son was 
named Toms Nixon. In such case it seems custom to make the 
relic name a middle name. Hence Sam said: "A middle name, 
or ought to be." 



i& j 



Seances Nos. 7, 8, and 9. 

96. The circle now consists of J. H. Pratt and wife, J. H. 
Nixon, E. S. Edwards, a lady, T. J, Haughey, Mrs. Phoebe Smith, 

and Miss May Cook. 

97. At the three seances there were some more than one 
hundred different full-form visible materializations, the most of 
which were fully recognized and identified to the satisfaction of 
the parties who had known the persons in the mortal. 

98. These materializations were some of them male and 
some of them female in appearance; they were of various 
sizes and heights, from the size of an infant one foot tall to the 
size of a giant seven or more feet in stature. 

99. The most of them talked to us, some in a whisper, some 
in good, plain, distinct oral speech. Some of them talked in 
"tongues" — Greek, Latin, German, French, Scandinavian, and 
others. 

100. Some of them wrote short messages in these and other 
"tongues" — Chinese, Japanese, etc 

101. But the most wonderful of all the phenomena is the 
writing done by some of these full-form materializations while 
standing in the clear, unobstructed sight of the entire circle. 
The rapidity with which the writing is done and the manner and 
matter of it must at once and forever remove and eliminate from 
the mind of any sane person who is permitted the privilege of be- 
ing an eve-witness, the last vestige of the fraud idea. 



16 RENDING THE VAIL. 

102. (a) Look here, Mr. Thomas, a moment more. Each 
member of the circle having been provided with a tablet, abso- 
lutely blank, as requested by the alleged spirit chemical control, 
known to the circle by the name of Dr. Reed, and the seance 
being in session with the circle seated in crescent form against 
the east and north walls of the room and six to ten feet from the 
cabinet doorway, (b) the spirit Dr. Reed steps out of the cabinet 
doorway and walks to the person at the southeast corner of the 
room and takes that person's tablet, opens it, writes in it, tears 
out the leaf containing the writing, lets that leaf fall on the 
floor at the feet of the sitter whose tablet he is using, hands 
the tablet back to the owner, asks the next sitter for his tablet 
and treats it likewise as the first, and returns into the cabinet. 

(c) Another form comes out at the cabinet doorway, says, 
"I am Prof. Denton," walks to the third sitter, takes his tablet, 
holds it in his left hand, opens the tablet and with his right hand 
writes in the tablet and tears the leaf so written upon from the 
tablet, and lets the leaf fall upon the floor at the feet of the 
owner of the tablet, gives the tablet back to the sitter, asks the 
next sitter for his tablet, takes it and proceeds in like manner 
as with the preceding, and so on to the fifth or sixth member of 
the circle, and returns into the cabinet. 

(d) Another form immediately appears, coining out of the 
cabinet, not at all in appearance as the personality of Reed or 
Denton, and says: "My name is Prof. M. Faraday." Then this 
alleged spirit Faraday walks to the crescent and finishes writing 
in the round of the tablets in the same manner for each of the 
remaining tablets as Reed and Denton had done for the others. 

103. (a) After the spirits had, in this way, demonstrated 
to the circle their ability to thus write, they demonstrated their 
ability to write with astounding rapidity, even to the rate of one 

thousand full English words in one minute. 

(b) In one of these experiments the spirit Dr. Reed came 
out of the cabinet, asked for one of our tablets, was given one, 
then returned into the cabinet for the space of three or four 
seconds, returned to our presence and sight to some four feet out- 
side the cabinet, raised the tablet in his left hand, opened it, and 
with his right hand wrote very rapidly, tore the writing out, and 
handed both the writing and tablet to the owner of the tablet, 
but so that all of the circle could see that it was the same tablet 
given to the spirit, or, at least, it had the complete appearance 
of being the same. 

(c) The time of this writing, as near as we could determine 
by pulse-count, was eleven seconds; or near the rate of six hun- 
dred words per minute. This is Reed's writing No. 2. (1236- 
1238.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 17 

104. At the lower left-hand corner and to the left of the 
name Keed, was this writing: 

"Kind friends, good-eve. (Signed) "Mr. Bliss." 

105. Dr. Keed says: "If it were not for the general under- 
standing that a transfiguration is only a transformation or per- 
sonation of the medium, it would be a better word than 'material 

ization.' " He says that what are called materializations are 
actual spirits transfigured from spirit to physical senses; and 
that he uses the word "transfigured" in the latter mentioned 
sense. 

106. (a) After Dr. Reed had written and retired, imme- 
diately another spirit stood in the cabinet doorway and asked 
Mr. Haughey for his tablet, asking at the same time: "Is this 
tablet clean?'' To which Mr. Haughey answered: "It is entirely 
clean.'-' 

(b) The spirit proceeded at once to write, tore the writing 
from the tablet, let it drop to the floor, and handed the tablet 
back to Mr. Haughey. And this is the writing: 

107. (a) "Here is a vast body of evidence coming into 
prominence, being established with equal certainty; 0m 1 fact 
after another bearing upon this question. 

(b) "And knowiedge precedes and prepares the way for 
others to advance. 

(Signed) "Volney." 

108. («) To show that in spirit life is retained much of 
the natural disposition of earth life, Sam asks: "Shall we^give 
you castanet music?'' We answer: "Yes. certainly.'' 

Sam: "Then hand them in." 

(b) Immediately a form is standing in the cabinet doorway, 
calling itself Will Book, to which we hand the castanets. This 
form with its right hand only plays the pieces, but does so, ad- 
mirably well; it retires, and is followed by one calling itself .Mat 

Book, brother to Will Book. 

(c) Mat uses both hands, and certainly can duplicate the 
best playing of mortals. 

(d) Then Sam took the pieces, one pair in each hand, and 
with such clownish gesticulations as stirred our mirthfulness to 
the bottom, produced the most complete castanet-playing, in 
perfect time to the piano as our pianist led away with her most 
lively pieces. 

(e) Mirthfulness seems to be as essential in the make-up 
of spirit life as it is in the mundane; yet this spirit mirthfulness 
is apparently as innocent as that of little children at play. 

(/) These Books seem to have been known to one of our 
circle as clownish castanet-players on the stage ;it Cincinnati, 
Ohio, Ions airo. 



18 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Seance No. 10. 



August 29, 1890. 



109. This evening favors us with twenty-eight full-form 
materializations (spirits made visible, we regard it): Dr. Reed, 
Prof. Hare, Prof. Faraday, Father King, Poloek Wilson, Volney, 
Thomas Roberts, Gracie Solard, Sarah Coleman, Prof. Denton, 
John Skinner, Frank Haughey, Father Haughey, Voltaire, John 
Pierpont, Rousseau, Humboldt, Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Joan 
of Arc, Will Book, Mat Book, Sam Smidt, Charles Garland, 
Laban Haughey, Father Hinkle, Rev. Lewis, and Thomas Paine. 

110. We have now a small tablet table, three feet four 
inches high, for such spirit forms as choose, to stand at and 
write upon. We place this stand, with pencil tablets upon it, 
near to the cabinet doorway. 

111. (a) Some of the spirits, that at first simply appeared 
for recognition, reappeared to talk and to write. 

(I) The chemical control, Dr. Reed, reappeared, had the 
trumpet stood upon the tablet stand, and then returned into the 
cabinet. 

(c) Immediately that spirit we address as Father King 
stepped out of the cabinet door, took the trumpet and stood it up 
on the floor, and asked for a larger tablet than was on the stand, 
which was given to him, and he took it into the cabinet. 

(d) Then Dr. Reed stepped out to the stand, just in front of 
the cabinet doorway, took up one of the tablets that had been 
placed on the stand, examined it and laid it on the stand, opened 
it and wrote and tore from the tablet the leaf upon which he had 
written, laid the leaf on the stand and the tablet on the leaf, and 
retired. 

(e) The writing we found to be in answer to this question 
that had been previously asked: "Does life continue, with the 
full and free use of the faculties exercised in earth life?" (See 
No. 3, 1240-1244.) 

(/) Prof. Faraday then stepped out to the stand, opened 
one of the tablets that lay on the stand, and wrote his paper No. 
2, signed "Denton, Faraday." (2596.). 

(g) Then Father King emerged from the cabinet with the 
tablet he had taken into the cabinet, placed it on the table and 
wrote and tore from the tablet the leaf upon which he had 
written, laid it and the tablet on the stand, and, with a bow to 
us, returned into the cabinet. This was his writing No. 1. (2706- 
2712.) 

(li) When we were singing the familiar "John Brown's body 
lies mouldering in the tomb," a form appeared, which we readily 
recognized to be the make-up of Abraham Lincoln. This form, 
standing in the cabinet doorway, gleefully joined with us in 
singing. When we reached the point commencing, "W T e '11 hang 



RENDING THE VAIL. ig 

Jeff Davis on a sour-apple tree," we saw the form was ceasing 
to sing with us, and about to return iuto the cabinet; we stopped 
singing, thinking that perhaps the spirit considered that part 
of the piece rather light literature — as, indeed, it surely is; hut 
Lincoln, as he retired, said: "Sing on.' 1 So we sang on the 
light literature part, and as we began the repetition of the words, 
"We il hang Jeff Davis on a sour-apple tree," a form stood in 
the door and distinctly said: 

(?) "No, you won't hang him." "Why not?" said Mr. Pratt. 
"Because I'm here. This is Jeff Davis himself, and you 7/ not 
hang him either." (We understood the emphatic you 7/ and either 
to be sarcastic; that the Government, notwithstanding much 
clamor therefor, did not hang him.) Then some of us began to 
excuse ourselves for the song, when Davis said: "That is all 
right. Can't you take a joke?" 

There w r ere remarks in the circle that, in all probability, Jeff 
Davis felt secession to be right, as Lincoln did the maintenance 
of the Union. The spirit replied, "We now are brothers," and 
returned into the cabinet. 

(;') Then Bro. Haughey led on the song, "Sherman's March 
to the Sea," and as we all joined in the chorus our Brother 
Zechey stoood in the cabinet doorway, apparently floating in the 
air, his feet six inches or more above the floor, and in this attitude 
sang with us, showing a marked improvement in the melody of 
his voice. 

(/,-) Then Sam called our attention to the fact "dot dose 
vellers can shtood on air," and immediately a female form ap- 
peared standing on or floating in the air, her feet at least ten 
inches above the floor. 

(7) The pianist led away with "Nearer, My God, to Thee," 
and, as we began to join our voices in the song, came that "an- 
cient of days" whom we designate as Father King. This spirit 
picked up the trumpet, and as he began to speak through it, we 
stopped singing; the pianist changed to some other tune, playing 
softly, but the spirit told her to "play with vigor." As she put the 
wdiole force and volume on the piano, the spirit, continuing 
through the trumpet, addressed us in tones above the piano, but 
in perfect accord, every w T ord, every syllable uttered so distinctly 
that we could clearly hear and understand; but our souls were 
so enraptured with the melodious tones of the trumpet that we 
almost forgot this life entirely, and could only remember thai 
the sentiment of the wonderful speech is near the same as that 
expressed in the Denton-Faraday writing of this evening. (2500.) 

(m) To relieve our minds from the intense exaltation pro- 
duced by the speech of Father King, the two Books and Sam. the 
control, gave us a repetition of castanet-playing. 



20 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Seance No. 11. 

October 1, 1890. 
112. (a) Circle all present. 

(6) Thirty-seven full-form materializations. Most of them 
appeared to our vision immediately, one following the other, 
simply for recognition, and to make their presence known to us; 
after which, for such other phenomena as they had in store 
for us, some of them reappeared. 

(c) The spirit Father King, on reappearing, gave us a short 
oral lecture concerning our duty in this work and their willing- 
ness to assist, so far as environments do not hinder. 

(d) He also proposed to discuss any scientific subject on 
which we wish information; but, supposing he had reference to 
future seances, we did not propose any such topics at this time. 

(e) Sam said: "Dem vellers dry to write soom. May pe 
not mooch.-' 

(f) Spirit Keed came to the tablet stand, picked up a tablet 
that Mr. Pratt had placed thereon, and wrote in that tablet, tore 
two leaves from it, and gave them to Mr. Pratt, constituting his 
No. 4 writing. (1245-1252.) 

(g) As we sang the air commencing, "John Brown's body 
lies mouldering in the tomb," Lincoln stood in the cabinet door, 
greeting us: "Good-evening, friends." Then he gave us an ad- 
dress in pantomime, seeming to be much pleased. 

At the words, "He 's gone to be a soldier in the army of 
the Lord," Lincoln, in a loud whisper, said, "Yes indeed," and, 
pointing upward with both hands and steadily gazing upw T ard, 
stepped backward into the cabinet and behind the curtains. 

(Ii) Immediately another form, altogether different in ap- 
pearance, emerged from behind the cabinet curtains and stood 
in the cabinet doorway. Two or three of us exclaimed, "That 
is old John Brown himself!" As the chorus, "Glory, glory halle- 
lujah!" is reached, the spirit bows in assent to the recognition, 
saying: "Yes, friends, this is John Brown marching on." As 
we concluded the song, the spirit retired behind the curtains. 

This is the first appearance here of the Osawatomie John 
Brown, although the hills of his Kansas rendezvous are in sight 
of where we are and only twenty-five miles away. We first 
recognized him by his marked resemblance to his photograph and 
engraving. 

(i) As the pianist played a waltz the spirit Gracie Solard 
emerged from behind the cabinet curtains and, with all due 
Terpsichorean etiquette, moved the whole form most gracefully, 
in perfect time and accord with the piano, her countenance and 
costume glowing with brightness. 

(/) As this spirit retired General Sheridan suddenly ap- 
peared in the cabinet door, being so recognized by Mr. Pratt. 



RENDIXG THE VAIL. 91 

This spirit then gave to others of the circle more or less evidence 
of his identity. 

(k) As he retired, one like unto the likeness of Henry Clay 
stood before us, with his majestic figure as proudly addressing 
the United States Senate; by which attitude we first supposed 
this to be a figure of Henry Clay. 

(7) As Clay retired, instantly there appeared one in the 
cabinet door recognized at once by the secretary as Ephraim 
Harrold. The spirit assented, and then turned his head about, 
so that the form of the head could be seen both from front and 
side view. By his marked perceptives, prominent forehead, dark 
heavy eyebrows, and general contour, he was also recognized by 
Mrs. Nixon. Ephraim Harrold was uncle to the secretary by 
marriage; he was a great admirer of Henry Clay, and was thor- 
oughly versed in the biography of Clay, even to minutiae, 
especially as to Clay's political career. 

This is the first appearance here of the two last-mentioned 
spirits. 

(m) Frazer and his partner, who were murdered in 
Chautauqua County, Kansas, in July, 1890, very vividly ap- 
peared, one at a time. Frazer, especially, exhibited the knife- 
wound made in his left breast, having the upper shirt front rolled 
down to a point just below the wound. 

(n) Most of. the forms at this seance spoke to us, more or 
less, but nearly all in a whisper. 

Seance No. 12. 

October 9, 1890. 

113. Mr. Haughey was absent, but in his stead was Mr. 
Clifton, of Paola, Kansas. This made a very different material 
in the make-up of the circle. 

114. The materializations were only eleven, and these most- 
ly very feeble and dim, so that only four were recognized. 

115. We have noticed that on the introduction of a new 
element into the circle the phenomena are a great deal less 
marked. 

116. Spirit Keed, standing in the cabinet door, took two 
tablets from the writing-desk and handed them to someone in the 
cabinet, and then retired into the cabinet himself. In a short 
time he returned to the desk, having in his hand a tabid which 
we presumed, from its appearance, to be one of those that lie 
handed into the cabinet as above mentioned, and asked the secre- 
tary to stand in front of and between the spirit and Mr. Clifton, 

and that the secretary also place his hand upon the tablet which 
the spirit held in its left hand. Then, as the spirit began writing 
in the tablet which the spirit brought out of the cabinet as before 
mentioned, the spirit asked the secretary: "Do yon sec me 
plainly?'' 



/.'/ \ DINQ THE VAIL, 

Secretary: "Oh, yes, Doctor, I see you verj plainly." (See 
portrait al par. L230.) 

Then ihis spirit, more swiftly than ever before, made his 
writing No. 5. ( 1 258 1 257.) 

M7. (./) The secretary's exes were near enough to the 
writing, as ii was being done, to sec the lines of writing, one after 
another, as ihe\ dropped from the spin! angers onto the paper. 

|M There was no perceptible pen or pencil In the spirit hand 
thai wrote, (c) hut the words seemed to drop in linos Prom the 
spirit angers as the fingers, al some two inches above the paper, 

nio\ ed along I lie lines of the paper. 

((/) The eyes of the secretary were jnsi one arm's-length 
from i lie writing as ii was being done. 

(e) When the writing was completed, Hie spirit tore from 

the (able! the leal' on which was (lie writing, folded I he leaf 

once, put ii inside the tablet, and closed ihe tablet, saying lo the 
s< « retary, "The next person to wrjte is Mr. Black/' and retired. 
(/) While the secretary was siill standing with Ids right 

hand upon Ihe (able, a make up emerged from Ihe cabinet, an 

nouncing himself as Judge Black. 

i ) This form picked up and examined (he three tablets 
thai lav on ihe stand, look out Hie writing of i>i". Reed and laid 
il on the stand, then pul two of ihe tablets down on ihe stand, 
retaining the one in which Reed had written, opened it, and, with 

on! Looking al Ihe secrelar\ as Reed did, held Ihe back of the 
tablet so thai (he secrelar\ could nol see "Ihe pari of Ihe hand 

thai wrote," bui could only see the movement of ihe arm as ihe 
writing was being done. 

lis. When the writing was completed, (he spirit detached 

il from Ihe tablet, held il up as il* reading il, as Reed did his; 

Black did noi, as Reed, make corrections, but, with seeming salis 
faction, folded ii once, pu1 this with Reed's paper into ihe tablet 
from which they were lorn, closed it, and placed (he three tablets 
upon the table, saying to the secretary, "Thai is all," and retired. 
This is ihe writing: 

"Some persons look upon this subject as representing evil, 
others as good; but, notwithstanding all objections ami obstacles 
thai are brought to bear against us, we an 1 receiving the atten- 
tion of all classes of society, ami of the mosl advanced minds In 

ihis ami other countries, they having accepted ihe subject as be* 
i n u ihe result of universal law of life. 

"There are but few persons at the present time that think \'ov 
themselves but what acknowledge ihe existence of spirits. 

(See par. 1 IS.) "Judge Black" 

Sc<ni<'c Ac. / .'. 

October LI, L80O. 
L19, {ii) The light in the room is now such and so arranged 
that the secretarv can see to read and also to take full notes. 



BENDING THE VAIL. 33 

(b) Sam, the control, ordered that a certain envelope thai 
had been left with Mr. Pratt, directed to T. J. Haughey, be placed 
on the stand, which was done. Sam then said that the envelope 
contained questions for Father King to answer, and that the 
envelope should be examined by all of the circle to sec that the 
seal had not been broken; but we simply let the envelope remain 
on the stand. 

(c) There were thirty-five materializations, twenty-five of 
which were readily recognized. Some of these dematerialized 
downward. 

i'/i That is, they descended as though passing through the 
floor, feet foremost, until the neck reached the floor; then, in- 
stantly, the head vanished. (86.) 

120. (a) One, representing himself to have been in the 
earth life a Turkish general, Bajazet, stood just outside the 

cabinet doorway and drew the curtains aside so that we all could 
plainly see the spirit as it held the curtains; and at the same 
time we could and did all see the medium sitting quietly in his 
chair inside the cabinet. 

(b) This experiment was repeated and prolonged until every 
person in the circle expressed perfect satisfaction as to having 
clearly seen the spirit outside, holding the curtains to one side, 
and at the same time seeing Mr. Aber inside the cabinet, quietly 
seated in his chair. 

(c) The chemical control, Reed, next stood in the cabinet 
door for writing. At the request of the spirit, the secretary took 
a seat between the spirit and the crescent. 

id) Then the spirit Faraday took Reed's place at the desk, 
and wrote with exceeding great rapidity his Xo. 2. (See 2500.) 

(e) Then the spirit tore from the tablet the leaf upon which 
he had written, held it up, looked it over, making some correc- 
tions, placed it on the stand, and retired. 

121. This writing is found in the Faraday pamphlet on the 
law of control. This spirit claims that he dictated that part of 
that pamphlet; but even then it was not original with him, but 
is a common law of psychics, well known in psychic science, both 
ancient and modern, and that it is no more plagiarism for him 
to use this than it would be for him to state any law of psychics 
or physics that has become common property; and, further, that 
if it be claimed that it is original in the Faraday pamphlets, it is 
Faraday quoting himself. 

But the prime object here was to give an example of the 
amazing rapidity with which spirits can write: in this instance, 
at least fifteen words per second. The reader will find farther 
on our experiments in this matter. (130 a, 140.) 

122. The spirit Reed then returned to the cabinet door, at 
the desk, picked up one of the tablets, and wrote his paper X". 
6. (1258.) 



24 RENDING THE VAIL. 

123. (a) As Keed retired, the "ancient of days," Father 
King, appeared in the cabinet door and picked up the sealed 
envelope before mentioned, and gave it to the secretary, saying: 
"Give this to Mr. Pratt." As Mr. Pratt received it the spirit said 
to him: "Mr. Pratt, pass that envelope to every member of the 
circle, and let them examine it closely and see that it is sealed 
and that the seal has not been broken." 

(&) This was done, each one making a close inspection and 
pronouncing the envelope sealed and not presenting the appear- 
ance of having been broken. Then the envelope was handed 
to the secretary, who laid it on the tablet stand. 

(c) The spirit stood in the cabinet door all the while, as 
plainly to be seen as any person in the room. 

(e) When the envelope was laid on the table with the seal 
unbroken, as before stated, the spirit wrote thus: 

(/) Question 5. "The gas you have in your vicinity has its 
origin at great depth, through rock fissures." 

(g) Question G. "Some of the minerals found in the moun- 
tains of Colorado are results from upheavals of them while in a 
molten state; others are gaseous and aqueous formations. Some 
are formed by the sun's rays and gases of the atmosphere." 

(7?) The spirit Sam then said: "He says he has answered 
part of the questions. Now, I want you to open that envelope 
in presence of you all. You will find several questions, all 
numbered, and the answers number the questions answered." 

(i) Accordingly, Mr. Haughey, to whom the envelope was 
addressed, opened the same in the presence and sight of all the 
circle. 

(j) The envelope was found to contain a letter addressed to 
Father King, asking the spirit to answer a series of questions 
numbered from 1 to 8, respectively. The letter was signed "F. 
M. Kandall." 

(h) Then the secretary, holding the paper upon which Father 
King had written, said: "Please read Question 5." 

(/) Mr. Haughey, aloud: "Question 5. Does the oil or gas 
we have in this neighborhood have its origin at or near the points 
where we find it, or does it come from lower depths, through 
rock fissures." 

(???) Then the secretary read aloud the answer as above 
stated, and asked for Question 6. 

(n) Mr. Haughey read: "Question 6. Have the gold, silver, 
copper, and other minerals we find in our mountains of Colo- 
rado resulted from upheavals of them while in a molten state, 
or are they gaseous or aqueous depositions from above?" 

(o) Then the secretary read aloud the answer to Question f> 
as before written. 

(p) To those of us who know the facts, this case is a re- 
markable test in demonstration of an intelligence beyond the 
mortal, in connection with these phenomena. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 25 

Seance No. 14. 

October 15, 1890. 

124. (a) The regular sitters all present. There were a 
great many very brilliant materializations, nearly all of which 
were recognized. Among these was a very excellent one of Gen. 
Phil Sheridan, so life-like that Mr. Haughey, who knew him in 
the field, recognized him at once, and all the others of the seance 
recognized the complete resemblance to portraits. 

(b) As this spirit engaged us in conversation, not directing 
himself to the women, he was asked to also speak with them. 
He said: "I don't like to talk with the ladies." Then, turning 
to retire into the cabinet, he said to Mr. Haughey: 

(c) ''See that my grave is kept green, will you?" 

(d) The spirit Dr. Reed then appeared in the cabinet door, 
and asked for questions. Mr. Pratt handed to the spirit a tablet 
having questions written in it. The spirit, looking through the 
tablet, said: "I must investigate this. These are good ques- 
tions. I will try to touch upon them.'' He then returned into 
the cabinet, taking with him two or three tablets and some 
papers. 

(e) Presently Sam stood in the door, having in his hands 
tablets and papers, and, looking back into the cabinet, said, 
"Where nioost I lay dese tings, Doctor?'' and dropped them lonto 
the stand and retired. 

125. Reed then appeared at the desk and wrote in one of the 
tablets on several leaves, tearing each leaf out as written upon. 
As he was tearing the leaves out he said, "I 've got some deep 
things here, I don't know T whether you '11 comprehend or nor," 
and dropped all the papers onto the stand. 

We found, in two parts, signed "Reed," this writing No. 7. 
(1250-1201.) 

(a) On a sheet of pencil tablet were typewritten questions, 
submitted by Joseph Maxwell to the spirit Father King. 

(b) Question first: "Are there electric currents in the 
earth?" 

(>) Second: "How can we of earth detect such currents?" 
07) Third: "Would we on earth be benefited by a knowl- 
edge of electric currents in the earth?" 

(e) Fourth: "What benefit would result from such knew] 
edge?" 

126. Spirit Father King stood in the cabinet door, picked 
up this sheet of paper, looked at it. and wrote, so that the writ- 
ing was pushed through the paper and made visible only on the 
lower side, so that it required a type compositor or the aid of n 
mirror to read it; and, by the aid of a mirror, we read the answer 
to the questions. (Paper 2, par. 271.°).) 

127. The unanswered questions of the series of eighl con- 
tained in the sealed envelope of the last meeting had been again 



26 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

put under seal, at Paola, Kansas, by the parties who first sealed 
them, and resubmitted; no one of the seance, of course, knowing 
anything of the matter, except that some sealed matter was put 
on the table. 

128. Therefore on another paper was this writing in further 
answer to the list of questions in the sealed package of the last 
meeting. (No. 3, 2717.) 

129. And yet another writing. (See No. 4, 2721.) 

130. There are two wonderful test peculiarities of these 
papers of Father King: 

(a) First, the amazing rapidity of the writing — not less than 
600 to 800 words per minute, by pulse-count. 

(b) Second, that it requires the aid of a looking-glass to 
read the writing, as it seems to have been impressed through the 
paper on to coloring matter on the opposite side of the paper, 
so that the writing reads like type in composition. 

(c) And a third marvel is .that Mr. Haughey conveyed the 
last-mentioned sealed package to the parties at Paola who had 
sealed it with their own private seal, and who, in the presence 
of several persons, opened the package, first pronouncing that the 
seal had not been broken nor the package opened while away, 
and, to their utter amazement, found all the questions had been 
answered completely. 

Seance No. 15. 

October 23, 1800. 

131. On this occasion the materializations were very dim 
and feeble, and only a few were recognized. The vocalizations 
were scarcely audible. When the celestials were ready to write, 
it was found that the tablets had been misplaced. The spirit Dr. 
Keed appeared in the cabinet doorway and there stood for two 
or three minutes, while the whole house was being searched for 
his own tablet, which was not found at the time. The spirit, 
expressing regret, finally retired without writing. A tablet that 
had been used by Father King was found and placed on the stand 
in front of the cabinet door. King at once stepped out and wrote 
a little. 

132. Then Faraday stood at the table and wrote, in the same 
tablet, at some length, and retired into the cabinet. 

(a) The writing was in two parts. The first was in Greek, 
which, being interpreted, is: 

(b) "Alone this night, I am to write to you." 

(c) Part second is set out as Faraday's paper No. 3. (2601.) 

133. In this the sentiment and some of the composition is 
found in the Faraday pamphlet, "Kelation of the Spiritual to the 
Natural Universe." 

(a) The reader will find this a step toward proof of the 
personality of this spirit as Prof. Faraday. 



REXDISG THE VAIL. 27 

(&) Eleven persons in the circle, there being of new element 
E. S. Edwards and wife and Miss Sarah Lovell. 

(c) Jt should be borne in mind that the members of this 
circle use every possible precaution to know that the paper used 
by the spirits here is clear of all writing whatever at the moment 
the spirit begins to write. 

Seance No. 16. 

November 2, 1890. 

134. (a) We are now removed to the residence of Mrs. 
Phoebe Smith, Spring Hill, Kansas, where we can have a seance- 
room for that purpose only. 

(b) For the purpose of continuing the Intellectual Develop- 
ing Circles, C. V. N. House and wife, J. H. Nixon and wife, T. 
J. Haughey, Phoebe Smith, Mrs. L. Cook, Miss May Cook, a lady. 
and I. N. Boicourt (c) mutually agreed with the medium to hold a 
series of seances under the name and style of the Aber Intel- 
lectual Circle, with T. J. Haughey as president, I. N. Boicourt 
vice-president, C. V. N. House treasurer, and J. H. Xixon 
secretary. 

(d) It was also agreed to publish, in book form, such, if 
any, matter given by spirits as should be deemed worthy, and 
that the secretary make notes and record of the phenomena of 
the seances for such publication; and to hold two of these seances 
each week, admitting no persons not members of the circle except 
by consent both of the circle and spirit band. 

(e) Thus agreed, having the room already arranged as usual, 
the medium, W. TV. Aber, is seated at the door but outside of the 
cabinet, there becoming entranced, and then is taken into the 
cabinet and seated on his chair. 

if) Sam, the cabinet control, gives directions as to light, 
music, fire, etc. 

(g) Then full-form materializations, one after another, come 
forth in the cabinet doorway mostly. A few of them take one, 
two, or three steps out into the room. 

(/?) One form stepped just outside the cabinet door, and 
announced himself as General Grant. This form took a toy gun 
and practiced at the manual of arms under Capt. Haughey's drill, 
but we conclude the practice too imperfect for General Grant. 

(0 Six or eight materializations, though good ones, were 
not recognized. 

(/) About twenty, however, were recognized fully. 

135. Thomas Paine appeared in the door, as standing in the 
air, his feet not touching the floor, or anything else visible to us. 

136. One spirit, tall, commanding, with ruffled tunic, an- 
nounced himself as Emperor Julian. 

137. Then one, having a military bearing, very brilliant in 
appearance, said: "I am General Lafayette, who left my young 



28 RENDING THE VAIL. 

wife in France that I might join Washington in America in her 
war for freedom." 

(a) Sam said: "Now place the writing desk near to cabinet 
door." 

138. The top of this desk is so arranged by hinges and 
lock and key as to secure such articles under lock and key as 
may be desired. 

(a) The secretary placed several new and clean tablets in 
the desk, locked them in, put the key in his pocket, placed the 
desk about two and a half feet from and in front of the cabinet 
door, and took his seat. 

(b) The members of the circle, by request of the control, 
examined the -desk and pronounced it securely locked. 

139. Sam then, in full visible materialization, stepped to 
the desk and touched the front of the desk; we heard the bolt of 
the lock slip, and the spirit raised and closed the desk lid, with 
some violence, several times in quick succession, and retired into 
the cabinet. 

140. Then the chemical control, Dr. Reed, stepped out and 
took from within the desk three tablets and returned into the 
cabinet, taking the tablets with him. 

(a) Someone remarked: "He took the whole package." 

(b) Sam said: "Veil, uf you dond't like it, ve '11 brought 
'em back. Sing 'Shon Sheff Tavis.' ' : As we began to sing Capt. 
Haughey rose to his feet. 

(c) Jn a moment Sam emerged from the cabinet, having in 
his hands the tablets, saying: "Mr. Haughey, sit down. Fader 
King vill write first." Then, facing the cabinet, Sam said: "Say, 
misther, dond't write mooch. 1 can't vait on you long." Then 
he laid the tablets on the desk and retired into the cabinet. 

141. Father King stepped right out to the desk, spread one 
of the tablets open, wrote on one leaf, tore that leaf from the 
tablet, folded it once, placed it on the desk, and retired. (No. 5, 
2725.) 

142. As Father King retired we were singing "The Sweet 
By-and-by," and a very intelligent appearance came from behind 
the door curtains out to the desk, and as he opened a tablet and 
began to write, said: "My name is Faraday. Yes, friends, indeed 
there is a far more glorious realm awaiting you all." He finished 
his writing, tore the leaf from the tablet, folded it once, and laid 
it upon the desk. (No. 4, 2605.) 

143. Then Dr. Reed came out to the desk, took a tablet and 
wrote on four leaves, tearing each one out as it was written, fold- 
ing it once, and placing it on the desk, before beginning the next 
leaf. (And this was his effort No. 8, 1262-1272.) 

144. Photography and telegraphy promised. Sam gave a 
little instruction, saying: "If you do these things, we will give 



BENDING THE VAIL. 29 

you photography, telegraphy, and many other things, but you 
must give the Calathumpians a chance.'' 

145. All these things occurred in the plain sight and hearing 
of all the circle. 

146. Reed's writing occupied sixty-two seconds by Mr. 
Boicourt's watch. A rate of 500 words written per minute. 

Seance No. 11. 

November 9, 1890. 

147. (a) We have now fitted up the southwest room on the 
second floor of Mrs. Smith's house for our permanent seance-room. 

(b) At this time about thirty excellent make-ups, most of 
them recognized. 

148. One form stood in the cabinet door, saying in a very 
distinct whisper: "I am Bishop Hale, of Canterbury, England. 
I wish to say to you that the account given in the Progressive 
Thinker as to the participation of Jesuits in the War of the 
Rebellion and assassination of Lincoln is substantially true," 
Then, with a bow, he retired into the cabinet. 

149. One appeared in the cabinet door in the uniform of a 
Scottish soldier, saying: "I am General Bruce." 

150. Then this spirit stood a little to one side of the door, 
outside the door curtains, and with his hands held the curtains 
to one side, so that the circle could plainly see the medium sitting 
in his chair on the inside of the cabinet, while, at the same time, 
the spirit was plainly seen on the outside of the cabinet, holding 
the curtains drawn aside; then the spirit went into the cabinet. 

151. Sam, speaking from within the cabinet, ordered the 
tablet desk to be placed near the cabinet door. 

(a) This done, spirit Reed stepped to the desk, opened it, 
took therefrom several tablets, and carried them into the cabinet. 

(b) In two minutes Reed returned to the desk, having with 
him the tablets. 

(c) By standard time it was then eleven minutes past nine 
o'clock. 

(d) The spirit laid the tablets on the desk, opened one of 
them and wrote one page, tore from the tablet the leaf upon which 
he had written, examined it as if reviewing the writing; then 
he laid the leaf upon the desk, wrote again, tore another leaf from 
the tablet, examined it and laid it upon the desk with the first 
leaf torn out, closed the tablet, left the tablets and papers on 
the desk, and returned into the cabinet. . (912J.) 

(e) As we figured, the actual time of the execution of the 
writing was less than 37 seconds; the writing consists of 314 
words; making the rate of the time of the writing more than 500 
words per minute. 

(f) As the spirit was writing he invited Mr. House and Mr. 



30 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Boicourt to "move this way a little," which they did, and thus 
had a better view of the movements of the spirit's hand as it 
wrote. 

(g) Each one of the circle could now clearly see the move- 
ments of the spirit as the writing was being done. (Reed, No. 9, 
1274-1278.) 

152. There came forth, spirally. Robert Dale Owen, an 
unrecognized form, Dr. Reed, Prot. Faraaay, Prof. Denton, and 
Father King, and each wrote two seconds, except Father King, 
who spent fifteen seconds in writing and drawing and forty-five 
seconds more in familiar oral conversation with various members 
of the circle. 

(a) These spirits, at this time, did all their writing and draw- 
ing on the same paper. 

(b) We found their effort to be a diagram of our seance, 
showing the relative position of sitters, cabinet, medium, and 
six spirits. (King writing No. 6.) 

(c) Diagram represents a magnetic current from the brain 
of each sitter, down through the body, out at the feet, and all con- 
verging to the feet of the medium. Nearest to the medium, back 
to the right oblique some four feet, the spirit Father King; back 
of King some four feet, Prof. Faraday; squarely to the left of 
Faraday, Prof. Denton; back and to the left of Faraday, Dr. Reed; 
back and a little to the left of Faraday, a name not deciphered; 
and squarely back of Reed, some six feet distant, Robert Dale 
Owen. (1170.) 

(d) These spirits would all be entirely outside the room. 

(e) It must be borne in mind that our seance-room is on the 
second floor. This would place the spirits in the air some four- 
teen feet above the ground. 

(/) The whole time of all the writing at this seance and of 
the making of the diagram, from the time Reed first began to 
write to the time Father King retired into the cabinet after hav- 
ing finished the diagram and done his talking, was just fifteen 
minutes. 

(g) The reader is especially invited to make careful note of 
the wonderful rapidity of these writings, and ask himself if it 
would be possible to have a more powerful or more scientific 
demonstration of the reality of the claims herein set up; that these 
writings, alleged to be by spirits excarnate, are the product of 
intelligence having a means of execution for transcending any- 
thing as yet within the known capability of man while in the 
physical. 

(7?) It may be well to state that the taking of the tablets into 
the cabinet cannot be construed into the shape of a jugglery, for 
they are gone but two minutes, it is entirely dark inside the 
cabinet, and the writing is well executed mechanically, as closely 
following the base-lines as any person could do in the best light; 



RENDING THE VAIL. 31 

we know the tablets, and we closely examine them before and 
after and during the seance; the handwritings of the various 
spirits are as varied and individualistic as possible, except with 
first attempts in a few instances; we know there are no confeder- 
ates; we know that almost the entire business is far beyond the 
capacity of the medium, and much of the matter given is beyond 
the mental capacity of any one of us, or even of our whole circle 
combined. 

(i) It is true that we find considerable of it to be quotation; 
but even this is so ingeniously done and interwoven with original 
matter and in the argument as to make it tantamount to origi- 
nality. As to quotation, these spirits say that if we could have 
access to the Alexandrian Library, we would there find all that 
they now teach; and, further, that the teachings of that great 
library were but a reflection of the knowledge of preceding ages. 

Seance No. 18. 

November 13, 1890. 

153. Some twenty-five "familiar spirits," in full material- 
ized form, one at a time, came forth from the morning land with 
greetings. 

(a) They all appeared radiant with joy, serenely at peace, 
as though they had never even heard of a "wrathful God or an 
endless hell"; but seemed to realize that, at some time, the last 
enemy will be destroyed and death and hell be swallowed up by 
the surging waves of evolution. 

(b) Abraham Lincoln, standing gloriously outlined before 
us, said: "It was Jesuitism that murdered me." 

(c) Father King, through the trumpet, said: "(lood-even- 
ing, friends. 1 am glad you feel so much interest in this glorious 
work. Press on. You will be abundantly rewarded when yon 
get over here. This horn is heavy; please swing it to its center, 
so that we can handle it easier." 

(d) We heard the voice of Sam in the cabinet: "Hurry 
up there.'' Immediately there came out of the cabinet a form, 
which we recognized as Bro. Lewis, while on earth a Methodist 
Episcopal minister. This spirit walked across the room near 
to Mrs. Smith, and complimented her on having her house so 
gaily arranged for spirit headquarters, and said to the rest of us, 
"I told her a year ago about this," and then returned into the 
cabinet. 

154. The tablet desk is now placed near to the cabinet door. 
(a) The reader will bear in mind that the desk and tablets 

are thoroughly examined before the seance, and none but tablets 
entirely clear of writing are placed in the desk. 

(6) The desk is then locked, and some one of the circle, 
generally the secretary, carries the key in his pocket. And the 



32 RENDING THE TAIL. 

desk is so left in sight of all the circle that no person could 
unlock it without being seen to do so by the circle. 

(c) The spirit Reed stepped to the desk, saying, "I will see 
whether I can unlock it — perhaps I cannot" ; then showed us both 
his hands, open, so that we could see that he had no key; then, 
at his touch, the bolt slipped and the lid raised right up. 

(d) He took from the desk the castanets which were in it, 
shut the lid down, and placed the castanets on the desk lid. As 
he returned into the cabinet Sam said to him: "Are dose dings 
for me, Doctor?" The Doctor replied, "Yes, sir." Sam at once 
reached out of the cabinet and took them from the desk, stepped 
into the door, and gave us an exhibition of castanet-playing in 
his happiest mood, to our great delight, and, retiring, said: 
"Fritzie, my poy, will blay next." The little fellow came out 
in close resemblance of features and manners to Sam, and 
babbled away as a novice at the castanets, looking as though in- 
tensely delighted. 

155. The spirit Reed returned to the desk and took some 
or all of the tablets into the cabinet; in a moment he returned 
again with one of the tablets, laid it on the desk, opened the 
tablet, wrote upon one leaf, tore it out of the tablet, reviewed the 
writing, made some corrections, folded the leaf and laid it on the 
desk, in like manner wrote on another leaf, laid it on the desk, 
closed the tablet, and retired; having thus made his No. 10. 
(1279-1285.) 

156. Then a spirit at the desk announced its name as 
Thomas Paine, and made his writing No. 1. (2310.) 

157. The secretary had prepared and submitted some 
questions: 

(a) 1st. "As to spirit travel and transportation." 

(b) 2d. "As to government in spirit life." 

(c) 3d. "As to what government should be in this life." 

(d) A spirit which we did not recognize stood forth, saying: 

158. "Transportation with us is very much as with you. 
We have our domestic animals, our ethereal, electric, or lightning 
railroads. We glide over valleys, plains, hills, and mountain-tops. 
We go as the winds go and come as the zephyrs come." 

(a) Question: "Your means of travel are all allied to an 
ethereal or electrical substance of which your horses and rail- 
roads are made?" 

(b) Spirit: "Yes, sir." 

(c) As to government, the spirit said in substance: "We 
have no government. Here each is a law unto himself; and all 
are left to work their w T ay under that law." 

(d) The power of the spirit to longer retain its form seemed 
gone, and it returned into the cabinet. 

159. E. V. Wilson then stepped out in good, strong, robust 
make-up, and was at once recognized by several of the circle. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 33 

1G0. He said: "Good-evening, friends. I hope to be ablo 
to deliver a lecture some time soon.'' So at a seance on Novem- 
ber 20, 1890, all the members of the circle except J. T. Haughey 
and Boicourt being present, E. V. Wilson did deliver to us a 
short lecture as he stood in very realistic full-form materializa- 
tion before us, taking up the subject of government where 
"Anonymous" had left off, saying in strong oral voice, through 
the trumpet: 

161. "To your question I will say that we have indeed 
government among us, but not what you would call government. 

(a) "We have no written codes. 

(b) "Our governments are natural governments, under nat- 
ural law, adapted to our various phases of advancement. 

(c) "Those of one phase of development are associated to- 
gether, and bound by natural social laws pertaining to that par- 
ticular unfoldment; and as the degrees of development are nu- 
merically infinite, so our states of socialism are, ad infinitum, 
more and more refined and exalted." 

161. The spirit Bajazet repeats the drawing of the cabinet 
curtains aside, so that the medium was plainly seen by the entire 
circle seated in his chair inside the cabinet, and the spirit holding 
the curtains aside also at the same time visible to all the sitters 
of the circle. 

Special Seance. 

November 22, 1890. 

162. This seance-was devoted principally to weighing the 
spirits, or converting the spirit force into avoirdupois. 

(a) Circle all present, except Friends Haughey and Boicourt. 
Visitors: Mrs. Huson, of Kansas City, and Miss Anna Moore. 

(b) There were very many very excellent materializations. 
Among them, Wm. Denton, who gave us a talk through the horn 
as to experiments they wish to introduce, of spirit photography. 
He requested that we procure a camera, and said that then they 
would give us photographs of spirits in the common way, and also 
assist to photographs of materialized spirits at the cabinet door. 

163. As Bro. House had procured a pair of small platform 
scales, as directed on November 20th, Sam called for the scales to 
be placed at the cabinet door. This was done. 

(a) Spirit Wm. Denton stepped upon the platform of the 
scales, and registered 15 pounds. 

(b) Then John Hewitt, one of Mrs. Huson's controls, stepped 
on the scales, and tipped the beam at 44 pounds. 

(c) Then Leonard Scoville, another of Mrs. Huson's controls, 
stepped onto the scales platform, and so easily balanced the 44- 
pound register weights that we added the 80-pound register, which 
was also balanced by the spirit; we added another 80 pounds by 



34 BENDING THE VAIL. 

register weights, and this too the spirit easily brought up ; and so 
we put on all the register weights we had, balancing 280 pounds 
on the platform, where the spirit was standing, with a mirthful 
twinkle in his eyes as we put on all our register weights, and 
at the word "Ready," this spirit easily tipped the beam at a force 
of 280 pounds, and indicated he could use a force on that platform 
of many more pounds; but when we informed him that we had on 
all our register weights, he bowed us goodnight and returned 
into the cabinet, leaving us to our musings in astonishment. 



Seance No. 19. 

November 23, 1890. 
164. This seance was utilized in weighing the spirits again. 

(a) Sam, at the appropriate time, asked that the scales be 
placed at the cabinet door just outside the curtains, which was 
done. 

(b) Immediately Prof. Denton parted the curtains and 
stepped upon the platform of the scales. The secretary, taking 
the register, remarked: "This is Denton. You weighed 15 
pounds last evening, I believe?'' Denton: "Yes, sir; but I will 
register nothing now." So the beam was placed at a balance, 
registering nothing-, although the spirit stood squarely on the 
platform of the scales. 

(c) Denton retired, and Dr. Reed immediately stepped onto 
the platform of the scales, registering 124 pounds, and retired. 

(d) At this our comical Sam said: "Py Shimmy! I go to 
veigh now." 

"Well, Sam, what can you raise the beam at?'' 
Sam: "Yust poot all dose veights on vot you got." 

(e) We then put on all the register weights we had, which 
balanced 280 pounds, and when there was nothing to us visible 
on the platform of the scales the beam raised and fell, audibly 
and visibly. 

(f) Then Sam stepped out and on to the platform of the 
scales, and easily vibrated the beam up and down, at pleasure; 
the spirit standing squarely on the platform, it required 280 
pounds of weight, avoirdupois, on the platform where the spirit 
stood, to raise the register beam. 

(g) "Well, Sam, how much could you pull down, any way?" 
Sam: "Oh, dwice or dree dimes as mooch as dot." 

(h) The ease with which he balanced the two hundred and 
eighty pounds would indicate that he could easily balance much 
more. 

({) All this was witnessed by eleven persons. 

(J). Where was the medium? Not on the scales, most 
assuredly. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 35 

1G5. This test is, to us who witnessed it, beyond question, 
spirit force converted into avoirdupois, and must go far toward 
a scientific demonstration, removing these phenomena out of the 
realm of fraud. 

166. Thomas Paine, standing in the cabinet door, took hold 
of the trumpet, and through it addressed us somewhat thus: 

(a) "You are doing a grand good work. 

(6) "There is one God: The God of Nature. 

(c) "That God is in everything that lives and moves and has 
a being, animate and inanimate. 

(d) "In niy book you find that I wrote concerning the 
Gospels: that not one word of them was written by the ones 
whose names they bear. 

(e) "I find, since coining to this life, that what is in my books 
concerning those Xew Testament scriptures is, for the most part, 
correct. 

(/) "They say I ordered my books burned. That is false.'' 

167. Then Father King took the trumpet, saying: "Good- 
evening, friends. I am happy to meet you all this evening." 
Here Mrs. Huson was controlled to personate a little child, in 
speech, chattering amusingly. King said (aside): "Little chil- 
dren should be seen, but not heard. 

(a) "Spiritualism is doing a grand good work, stirring the 
world as it was never done before. We trust you will do all you 
can for this work. I will try to write a little presently." He 
then retired. 

168. Sam said: "Put the desk at the door." Reed stepped 
out to the desk, materialized a key, as we supposed, and with it 
unlocked the desk; he asked one of us to raise the lid, which we 
did, and shut it down. Then Dr. Reed said: "Now raise it." 
But it was found to be locked. It was not a spring lock. The 
spirit then touched the desk and the lid was easily raised. Then 
the spirit shut and raised the lid several times, and took the 
tablets out of the desk and examined them all through. (We 
had examined the tablets, found them all clean, and locked them 
in the desk just as we were being seated for the seance.) 

169. The spirit took the tablets, or some of them, into the 
cabinet, when Sam said: "Say, Doctor, you forgot someding, 
don'dt you? You goin' to dry dot dings to-nocht?'' We heard 
no answer, but Sam, as though he did, said: "Ish dot s<>?" 
Then Dr. Reed stepped out to the desk and took therefrom an ink 
stand that we had put in there, placed it on the desk, and took 
the stopper out; he then laid the tablet which he had in his hand 
upon the desk, and spread the tablet open. 

(a) Then the spirit manipulated with his hands as though 
making something, and in a moment dipped at the inkstand as 
though for ink upon a pen, and wrote very rapidly, frequently 
dipping as a common penman would for ink. 



36 RENDING THE TAIL. 

(&) We could see the blank paper below the spirit's finger- 
points and the writing above them as it came on the paper. 

(c) The secretary was standing very near to the spirit while 
the writing was being done. 

id) When the writing was finished, at the request of the 
spirit, the secretary put the stopper in the ink-bottle and placed 
the bottle in the desk. 

(e) While this was being done, the spirit held the paper so 
that all the circle could plainly see the writing. 

(/) The spirit then tore the writing from the tablet and 
placed both the writing and the tablet on the desk, and retired. 

(g) We found the writing to have been done with ink, such 
as was in that bottle mentioned, and this is the writing No. 11. 
(1286-1288.) 

170. In answer to questions of government, the spirit 
Father King wrote his No. 7. (2728.) 

171. As King retired there came forth one whom we recog- 
nized as Prof. Hare, and wrote farther as touching the social 
question. This was his No. 2. (1210-1211.) 

(a) This writing of Prof. Hare's seems to be literally copied 
from the Faraday pamphlet "Mental Evolution," pages 11 and 12. 
Of course, the facts stated in this writing were known before 
the appearance of the book "Mental Evolution," and may be there 
a quotation from what Prof. Hare or some spirit, either in the 
physical or spiritual life, had previously uttered. Its value here, 
if any, is the manner of its reproduction, by a visible full-form 
materialization, and the amazing swiftness of the execution of the 
writing; and perhaps, to show that a thought can be reproduced 
to the world as well by a temporary reincarnation as through a 
psvchic for the reception and transmission of projected thought. 
(1209.) 

172. When Prof. Hare retired, the venerable and portly 
E. V. Wilson wrote his No. 4 and retired. (1216-1218.) 

173. Faraday then came forth to the desk and wrote his 
No. 5. (2608.) 

(a) This seems, also, to reflect from the Faraday pamphlet 
No. 1. 

(b) At about this time, and a little earlier, it was arranged 
that the sensitive who was the instrument of the matter of the 
Faraday pamphlets should be a member of this circle for the pur- 
pose of assisting to get this matter in shape for the press; and 
a little later he did visit these seances, and finally expressed him- 
self as satisfied of the identity of our alleged Prof. Faraday be- 
ing the same as the alleged author of the Faraday pamphlets. 
This may be one reason why the Faraday pamphlets are thus 
quoted in our seances, and also because of the direct appli- 
cability of the matter, in this case, as to the identity of Prof. 
Faradav. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 37 

174. Then came forth Prof. Denton at the desk, and, with 
his inimitable rhetorical eloquence, wrote his No. 2. (1634.) 

Seance No. 20. 

November 30, 1890. 

175. (a) Miss Anna Moore is now a member of the circle. 
'(b) Twenty-five of our spirit friends greeted us with their 

visible presence and words of cheer. Truly a cloud of witnesses 
testifying to us of the beauties, realities, and permanence of the 
morning land awaiting us all. 

176. Permit us to mention one case of fairly proven identity 
on this occasion; that of one Darius Peden; who, during his de 
dining years, suffered from what was then known as scald-head, 
so severely that for several years he kept his head and neck 
bandaged, with only the face below the eyebrows and in front 
of the temples left bare; and for some little period before his 
great transition the face had scald spots which greatly scarred it. 

(a) All this condition was so completely outlined in the 
materialized form on this occasion that as he came out of the 
cabinet the secretary instantly recognized him, although his 
mortal career ended more than thirty years ago, on Rush Creek, 
in Washington County, Indiana. 

(b) The minutes of our circles record hundreds of such identi- 
fying make-ups, but our space allows us to present the reader 
but very few of them. 

177. Dr. Reed at length stood at the writing-desk, and, wiiile 
unlocking it and examining the tablets, kept up a continual 
conversation in a general social way, something thus: "We are 
glad, indeed, to be able to manifest our presence to you; and, 1 
assure you, it gives us great pleasure to meet you all this evening. 
This work will prove to be a grand and glorious one for you. In 
our work for vour world w r e never tire." Then he made his 
writing No. 12.' (1289-1292.) 

178. Touching the common and scientific assumptions of 
Deific existence, M. Faraday continued on the same line, repeat- 
ing something of the Faradav pamphlet, "Relation of the Spirit- 
ual to the Material Universe," No. 6. (2611.) Denton, his No. 3. 
(1639.) 

Seance No. 21. 

December 7, 1890. 

179. Dr. Reed, his No. 13 (1293-1301), "The Great Mistake of 
the Church." And, at the same seance. Reed made his paper 
No. 14, < k Death and the New T Birth," under the similitude of a 
tree, its leaves of autumn and of spring. (1302-1305.) 

180. Denton, continuing the transition theme, made his 
paper No. 4. (1641.) 



38 RENDING THE VAIL. 

{a) One of the strong characteristics of Prof. Denton was 
that, no matter what theme was under consideration, somewhere 
in his discourse he would mercilessly fire a broadside into the 
practices of the priesthood and the hypocrisy of the Church; so 
here he leaves the thread of the subject in the writings, and hurls 
a withering sarcasm into the Christian practice of capital punish- 
ment. It is doubtful whether Col. Ingersoll, who is one solid 
bundle of sarcasm, can excel this effort of Denton. 

(b) This case, alone, ought to identify its author as being 
none other than Prof. Wm. Denton. 

181. After the angel Denton had written, a lady angel (the 
New Revelation demonstrates that there are lady angels), a 
veritable lady angel in bright female attire, having a gloriously 
serene appearance to our astonished vision, stood at the desk and 
wrote these words: 

182. "Friends, could science, in its most brilliant anticipa- 
tions for the future of its highest organism ever have fore- 
shadowed a development like this? 

"As the vail is lifted by Spiritualism, it strikes men dumb 
with wonder. 

"Amid the weals of life and changes of death, the consolation 
is, not that you have been playing the part of insensate automa- 
tons under incessant inspiration from spirits, but you are self- 
existent and responsible beings, and that you are aided by these 
providential agents. 

"You have at last climbed to the summit of the rudimental 
mountain, which enables you to step upon the less rugged de- 
clivities of a higher and more happy world. 

(Signed) "Martha Washington" 

Seance No. 22. 

December 14, 1890. 

183. Spirit Reed made his paper No. 15. (1306-1314.) 

184. Thomas Paine made his writing No. 2. (2311.) 

185. And Prof. Denton his No. 5. (1644.) 

186. In answer to the question, "What relation does woman 
bear to man in the spirit world?" E. V. Wilson wrote: 

(a) "The relation woman bears to man in the spirit world 
is the law of affinity, and through this law you are brought 
together in love and harmony with each other. 

(b) "We endeavor to bring together those who are best 
adapted to each other, not only on earth, but in the spirit world. 
I mean all men and women who are good and pure. 

(Signed) "E. V. Wilson, Spirit." 

187. Then that venerable commanding presence we name 
Father King stood before us, and, in his deep bass voice, very 
audibly spoke to us: "Good-evening, friends. It gives me 



RENDING THE VAIL. 39 

pleasure to be here. You are goiug to succeed, but to entirely 
do so you must be more harmonious. There is not yet enough 
harmony.'' 

188. There had been some conversation among the circle 
concerning that alleged St. Louis "hollow globe'' theory, which 
prompted Bro. Haughey to place these questions in the query-box: 

(a) "Is the earth on which we live a hollow globe (2729), 
with openings at the poles?" 

(&) "If yes, is there an inside surface of land and water, 
similar to what we find the outside surface to be?" 

(c) "And are the continents and islands inhabited by sen- 
tient beings possessing the power of reason and intuition?" 

(d) "Will Father King, or any other spirit, please reply to 
the above in writing, and oblige our circle?" 

In answer to which, Father King made his writing Xo. 8 
(2729-2730), in which he rather evades, as Bro. Haughey was very 
favorable to the "hollow .globe" theory; but later on the reader 
will find that this spirit made a specialty of the theory, as being 
only theory. 

189. Then Prof. Faraday stood forth at the desk, and, while 
opening and arranging the tablet, remarked : "I am glad to meet 
you this evening." Turning toward our visitor, Mr. Crump, he 
remarked to him: "I don't see that it makes any difference you 
being in the circle." He then wrote his No. 7. (2615.) 

(a) The reader's attention is again invited to the amazing 
swiftness of the execution of these waitings. 

(b) Now 7 at this seance the whole time consumed, from the 
time Dr. Reed began to write to the time Prof. Faraday closed 
his writing, was exactly nineteen minutes. 

(c) The whole number of words written was 1107. 

(d) Each writer tore from the tablet each leaf upon which 
he wrote, reviewed his writing, making erasures and corrections 
where he deemed it needed, folded the leaf once, laid it on the 
desk, closed his tablet, and retired, to be succeeded by another. 

(e) Each writer also spoke to us, three of them at some 
length. 

(/) In all of which it may readily be seen that not more than 
one-fifth of the time could have been consumed at the actual 
writing, so that the 1107 words were written in less than four 
minutes, by six different spirits in succession. 

190. Mother House, as we familiarly call this spirit, stood 
in the cabinet door, was fully recognized by several of us, and the 
w T onderful phenomenon of elongation occurred. The spirit, with 
her hands, raised her skirts to her ankles, then, thrusting the 
right foot forward, the whole foot gradually enlongated to the 
amount of not less than ten inches, the whole foot and toes grow- 
ing more and more slender as the elongation proceeded: then the 



40 RENDING TEE TAIL. 

right foot gradually resumed its natural position, and the left 
foot gradually elongated and contracted in the same way. 

(a) This experiment was continued until the whole circle 
seemed completely satisfied with it as a crucial test case. 

(b) This experiment of elongation was successfully made at 
several other times, both prior and subsequently to this. 

191. Up to this time, this evening, our light had been very 
strong, but now we shaded the light a little to soften it, and 

Mother Nixon came forth and sat upon a chair that was placed 
some two or three feet from the cabinet for that purpose. 

(a) Then the chair was placed with its back toward the 
cabinet door and some three feet therefrom, when the spirits 
Mrs. Townsley, Hannah Warner, and Henry Peacock, each, in 
succession, came out to the chair and took hold of the back of the 
chair, shoving the chair before them as they moved out to the 
distance of five or six feet from the cabinet door, each one, on 
retiring, taking the chair to within about three feet of the cabinet 
door. 

(b) Spirit Wm. Denton stepped out to the chair and moved 
it ahead of himself way out to the feet of the circle, in front of 
the cabinet, some eight or nine feet from the cabinet door. 

(c) And so spirit John Skinner. 

(d) Then spirit Tom Crump moved it out to near the feet 
of Bro. House, then back to the cabinet door, and disembodied 
downwardly, seeming to vanish down through the floor. 

(e) A small form, as of a little boy, with head just above 
the chair top, in a moment was recognized by one in the circle, at 
which the little spirit seemed so glad, bowing thankfulness, and 
dematerializing down, vanishing through the floor. 

192. A very venerable appearance, in headdress as of a 
starry crown, announced as Diogenes. 

193. Then a lady form, in very much the same headdress, 
announced as Eachel Diogenes. 

194. A form clad in purple robes and a coronal, both coronal 
and robes glistening as though set in diamonds, and a brilliant 
sparkling diamond in the center of the forehead, announced him- 
self as Buddha. 

(a) This was followed by a female form similarly decorated 
and announced as the wife of Buddha. (600, 702.) 

195. Thomas Paine, standing at the chair, near the center 
of the room, addressed us in a very audible voice, with emphatic 
and significant gesticulation, saying his oration No. 1. (2340.) 

196. Spirit Toms Nixon, father to the secretary, took his 
position at the chair in the center of the room and engaged in a 
loud whisper conversation with the secretary, saying: "Would you 
recognize my voice if I would speak out?" The secretary replied: 
"I think I would." Then this spirit said, rather flatteringly, in 
quite a loud, clear voice: "My son, you have been rather a good 



RENDING THE VAIL. 41 

boy. You have long been engaged in the dissemination of this 
grand and glorious truth — often in darkness and gloom. Go 
ahead, keep on, keep on faithfully to this sublime reality. Re- 
ward is sure; if not there, it shall be over here. My dear son, you 
can at last do more. Keep on and reap the glorious reward 
somewhere up your being's golden highway." 

Very many other ''familiar spirits'' greeted us with sunshine 
and cheer. 

8am said: "George H. Walser and wife might become mem- 
bers of this circle, but their attendance ought to be made as 
regular as possible.'' 

Seance No. 22 — Continued. 

December 21, 1800. 
Circle all present; Mrs. Sayling as visitor. 
This seance was much inferior in brilliancy to some we have 
had. Spirit Denton said that this was because of a mixture of 
discordant elements. Nevertheless, there were many excellent 
materializations and some good writings and oral messages. 

197. Power to change the form was demonstrated. A form 
stood forth and said it was Clarence Wright, grandson of the 
secretary. The secretary said: "Too tall for Clarence." The 
spirit replied, "Wait — I come again, less," went into the cabinet, 
and came immediately out again, being now 7 much reduced in size 
and height, to his actual size at the time of transition, but the 
first appearance was as the boy would be had he remained in 
the physical until now. 

198. The beginning of the discussion of the lost Atlantis, 
by the appearance of a materialization having a brilliant star 
on the front of its cap, saying: "I am Orondo, of the lost Atlan- 
tis." But Yerma wears this cap in his portrait. (829-834, 904.) 

199. Father King said to Bro. Haughey: "Light is result 
of chemical action. I have been to the place you spoke of. You 
are mistaken as to reflection. The sun does not shine. Light 
is chemical action. The light comes not from sun, moon, or stars, 
but is caused by chemical decomposition." 

200. We have now a pendulum, 39£ inches in length, sus- 
pended from the ceiling, near to the place where the spirits stand 
to do their waiting; this pendulum, wiien set to vibrating, marks 
one second of time to each vibration, near enough to answer as a 
scientific factor in the computation of the time of these psychic 
or spirit writings. 

201. At this time spirit Dr. Reed stepped out to the writing- 
desk, set the pendulum to vibrating, and wrote, during forty two 
vibrations of the pendulum, his paper No. 10. (1315-1317.) 

id) One hundred and forty-two words in forty-two seconds 
is at the rate of 215 words per minute. 



42 



RENDING THE TAIL. 




(1068.) 



(b) This is the slowest rate we 
have noticed, but where is the 
mortal to duplicate even this? 

202. Spirit Denton began his 
?No. 6. (1646.) 

203. This spirit passed to the 
other side some ten years prior 
to this writing of his; having 
learned something of spiritual- 
ism while on earth, he seems 
better prepared thereby to ap- 
proach his friends here who 
choose to receive him. 

The proper treatment of medi 
urns was being discussed by the 
people, the press, and this cir- 
cle, and that induced the follow- 
ing as his first effort in psychic 
penmanship: 

(a) "When you find that a 
medium is honest and his 
mediumship just what it purports to be, then sustain him in his 
divine work. 

(&) "Keep him or her from all worry or care. If you expect 
good manifestations, do not come to a spiritual circle thinking it 
is all fraud. 

(c) "For, if you do, you will not get much that will set 
you on the road of proper investigation. Come honestly. Aspire 
to the better influences, and then you will be rewarded for your 
time and trouble. Your friends can then come down the shining 
highway and bring you words of kindness that will elevate your 
determination to know more of this glorious knowledge and 
truth of spiritualism. 

(d) "Be not too hasty in condemning your mediums. 

(e) "If there is any information to be had on that subject, 
appeal to us for it, and we are ever ready to convey all the 
knowledge we can to you on the subject. 

(f) "There is a great deal more fraud in the people than 
there is in the spirit world. 

(Signed) "T. Nixon:' 



TOMS NIXON, 

Father to the Secretary. 



Seance No. 23. 

December 28, 1890. 
204. (a) Members of the circle all present, except I. N. 
Boicourt. 

(b) Mrs. Moore and son, Ed Moore, of Argentine, Kas., Mr. 
Sayling, of Garnett, Kas., Mr. Gaston, of Joplin, Mo., and Mr. 
Penn, of Kansas City, Mo., admitted as visitors to the seance. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 43 

(c) This seance was quite inferior as to appearance of forms, 
very few being of sufficient refractibility to be recognized, except 
as they announced their own names or as the cabinet control 
would announce them. 

(d) We attribute this condition of feeble appearance to the 
new magnetic influences introduced by the visitors. 

(e) There were but eighteen forms visible, and they mostly 
for the visitors. 

(/) The visible full-form materialization writings were fully 
up to the standard. 

205. A series of questions had been prepared by members 
of the circle and placed in the w T riting-desk, to-wit: 

(a) "What is electricity?" (1327.) 

(b) "What fills interstellar space?" 

(c) "What is light to us?" 

(d) "What is light to spirits decarnate?" 

(e) "Do spirits hold their conversations with each oilier by 
means of more sublimated elements, and organs adapted, in the 
same philosophical manner that mortals do?" 

(/) "Have spirits means of visit to and direct communica- 
tion with the planet Jupiter?" 

(li) "If so, what are the belts of Jupiter?" 

(i) "If we get suitable paper for you, will some spirit artist 
give us sketches of scenery in spirit life to embellish our book?" 

if) "Does Madam Blavatsky do her wonders of her own 
power, or has she spirit aid?" 

(k) "Are you teaching the medium's spirit while he is 
entranced?" 

(7) "What caused the submersion of Atlantis?" 

(m) To Dr. Eeed: "Will you please tell us mortals if the 
spirits that walk out to our sight in these seances have weight? 
If so, what does a materialized form weigh?" (164.) 

(n) By T. J. Haughey: "Father King, if the sun's rays do 
not warm and light our earth, both on the inner and outer sur- 
face, then what causes day and night and summer and winter?" 

(0) By T. J. Haughey, to King again: "(a) Have you been 
with me when I was writing up the hollow globe? (h) And have 
you not dictated the writing? (c) And are you pleased with 
what has been done thus far?" 

(p) "Tell us something on the subject of reincarnation." 

206. Spirit Eeed made his writing No. 17 (1318-1324), mak- 
ing 5 words per second, as counted by the pendulum. 

207. Faraday made his No. 8, 158 words in 28 seconds, by 
the pendulum; but this writing, too, seems largely a reproduction 
from the Faraday pamphlets. (2617.) 

Under this writing was this drawing, which resembles a 
materialization of December 14th which was then announced as 



44 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Diogenes. This drawing was made in 14 seconds, and in answer 
to question (i) of this seance. 

208. Denton wrote his No. 7 (1647), which includes partial 
answer to questions 205 (/r) and (o). 

209. Father King wrote, in answer to questions 5, 6, 7, 9, 
and 10, his paper No. 9. (2731.) 

210. In answer to question second, an unrecognized form 
made a diagram of a star, five-pointed, in the usual way — five 
outward angles of depression (obtuse), five parallax angles 
(acute) at outer points; in the center the words "star circle." 
From the regions of immensity of space, lines representing elec- 
trical currents converging toward the center of star circle from 
every direction, through the outward acute angles. Lines of out- 
ward elevation arise from points of obtuse angles, bisecting the 
same equiangularly, extending outwardly into space to outward 
extremity of star circle; three of these lines mounted by diamond- 
shaped figures, and two of them by pyramids, or deltas, with apex 
outward. 

To the southeast of the star circle a figure representing a 
sun — vast spirit sphere — at verge of star circle. From the south- 
west, an electric current line, with the words "electric cur." in 
print letters, so as to show the direction of the current to be from 
the outward space toward the center of the star circle. Sam 
said, on Tuesday evening following, that currents of electricity 
pass in at the acute angles and magnetic currents pass in at the 
obtuse angles; that magnetism is negative electricity, and that 
the union of electricity and magnetism in the star circles produces 
to spirit recognition a substance quite ponderable. (Diagram at 
1171.) 

Pro dim 1 Ph re i ? ology . 

211. (a) One stood in the cabinet door whom we perceived 
to be O. S. Fowler, the phrenologist. This spirit had us place a 
chair some four feet in front of the cabinet door, with the chair 
back toward the spirit. Then, the secretary being seated in that 
chair at the request of controls, the spirit phrenologist walked up 
behind the secretary, placed his hands upon the coronal region, 
and began delineation : "Large veneration ; small combativeness ; 
benevolence and sympathetic full to large; too liberal in finances 
— has accumulated enough, if it had been retained, to have been 
very differently situated financially, but has been too liberal; 
spirituality full to large." The spirit gave much more of the 
reading, all recognized as true. 

(h) Then Bro. House took the chair, and his delineation 
was given on points contrasting to those of the secretary, to-wit: 
"Combativeness large; acquisitiveness full — has made much 
money, but was liberal and free-hearted when young; time small; 



RENDING THE VAIL. 45 

memory better and larger now than years ago." This delineation 
was, also, very true. 

(c) Then Miss Anna Moore took the chair, and Dr. Reed did 
the phrenologizing: "She would have made and would yet make 
a lawyer, but for one thing: not enough of a liar to make a iirst 
class lawyer." Then the spirit diagnosed as to the lady's health 
and prescribed a remedy. 

212. Beginning of Prof. Denton's psychic oral orations in 
full-form visible materialization. 

(a) Effect of fear as to contagions. Grandly did this spirit 
walk out to the chair, and in brilliant display said : 

{b) "Changes have to come. They are necessary in life.' 1 

Aside to secretary: ''Do you recognize my voice now as 
similar to what you used to hear it?" 

Secretary: "Yes, sir; very much." 

(c) Then the Professor proceeded, speaking in about the 
same tone, pitch, and volume as in the mortal when delivering 
a lecture to an audience, saying: 

(d) "Friends, don't be afraid of sickness. Fear causes more 
than three-fourths of all sickness, of all disease. 

(e) "Even small-pox may be produced of fear. 

if) "I once knew a man who, when small-pox visited his 
neighborhood, was frightened so that, although he had not been 
exposed at all to the disease, he took the small-pox and died. 

(g) "His fear got hold of brain forces — projected thought 
of small-pox so strongly on the brain that the man actually took 
small-pox from brain forces. Other persons, who felt no fear, 
were actually exposed, repeatedly, to small-pox, without being 
infected. 

(h) "Go into the sick-room, if you will, but go with clean 
habits, a strong, brave will, free from every fear of the disease, 
and you clearly escape, even epidemic contagions, in most 
instances." 

(t) During the delivery of this discourse the spirit turned to 
the secretary, who heard him lecture some thirty years ago, and 
asked: "Do you recognize my voice as it used to be?" 

Secretary: "It is very similar. Give it a little more volume 
and softer intonation. Professor, and you will have it." 

(j) Then the spirit rose to the height of brilliancy of his 
palmiest days on earth, in appearance, manner, gesticulation, 
voice, right on with the subject of hygiene, some eight or ten 
minutes, and then said: "How is that, Mr. Nixon?" 

Secretary: "That is about it." 

Spirit, somewhat floutingly, repeated, "Abnvt it!" and retired 
into the cabinet. 

Sam said: "Mr. Nixon, he don'dt like the way you say dot." 

Secretary: "Well. Sam, tell him that, as I remember, it is 
all exactly as I knew him in the mortal." 



46 RENDING THE VAIL. 

213. Thomas Paine, in very loud oral address and earnest 
gesticulation, made his oration No. 2. (2343.) 

214. Following Paine, Bro. Lewis, who was in the mortal 
a Methodist minister, said, in a good, distinct whisper: "That 
man is too radical for me. I was a minister, you know, and must 
be a little more mild. The plastic condition of mediums should 
be regarded as tenderly as the unfolding of the plastic mind of the 
child. Mediums are sensitives, and in this regard are children, 
and people who claim to be a little more than a child ought not 
to falsify such claim by manifesting only the supremacy of the 
fist, the lion, the hyena, the hornet, and the eyes and tongue of 
the venomous serpent.*' 

215. Sam's boy, Fritzie, gave us this version of the Lord's 
prayer: "Our Fader which art in heaven, hallowed pe Dy name. 
Dy kingdom coom. Dy will pe done on eart as it ish done in 
hefen. Forgitf us our dressbasses as w T e forgilf dose who dress- 
bass against us. Giff us diss day our daily breat. Assist us not 
to yield to dempdation ond deliffer us from efil. Ond Dine pe de 
power ond de kingdom ond de glory forefermore. Amen/' 

Seance No. 2J>. 

January 4, 1891. 

21(>. In this seance the angels dictated and enacted their 
own tests, which were indeed tests grander than we would even 
dream. The reader is here presented with but a small portion 
of the record of the events of this seance. Fifteen persons con- 
stituted the circle, including two new visitors. 

There were thirty materializations; some being made up in 
the cabinet and full form, walking out of the cabinet, while 
others made up outside the cabinet in view of the whole circle. 
After appearance, some returned into the cabinet, wiiile others 
dematerialized outside the cabinet, seeming to pass down through 
the floor to the head, which vanished. Several alleged ancients, 
such as Plato, appeared in habiliments similar to those described 
in history as their peculiar wear. 

217. At length Father King walked out of the cabinet, took 
up the trumpet, and spoke through it very loudly and forcibly — 
so much so as at times to be almost stunning to the listeners. No 
member of this circle or visitor, so far, is able to duplicate the 
deep bass intonations of this voice. None of us can surpass it in 
volume. It certainly must at least equal the sound and volume 
of the alleged Sinai voice trumpeting to the children of Israel. 

(a) In some respects, however, our trumpeting beats the 
record. 

(b) That permits only Aaron to the presence of the medium. 

(c) This permits fifteen specimens of common humanity into 
the very room and presence and sight and hearing of the angel, 
whose voice sounds long and loud through the trumpet: 



RENDING THE VAIL. 47 

(d) "Good-evening, friends. I want my photograph taken, 

enlarged, and bung up in the room. 

[e) "Those questions are all of them correctly answered. 

218. "As to the planet Jupiter: 

(a) "Those belts are electric belts. 

(b) "Your planet has such belts. 

(c) "Those of Jupiter are more dense than those of your 
planet. 

(d) "I have visited all the planets of this system: Mercury, 
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, the outer planet and the 
baby planet next the sun, and know whereof I speak. 

219. "I don't want any more questions about that iiollow 
globe' theory. 

(a) "I have told you that your globe is hollow, and that, in 
one sense, you are in the center of it." 

220. As this ancient of days retires, several persons at once 
exclaim: "Oh, see there on the floor by the writing-desk! Look! 
See? It rises!'' Taking human shape, towering higher and 
higher. Wonderful form, out of that little cloud, standing the 
the appearance of a man before and in plain view T of all the circle. 

"Give us your name," said one. "Please tell us who you 
are," said another. When lo! the angel, finding a tongue and 
voice, in eloquent oral speech, sufficient to have been heard by 
any ordinary concourse of people entire, spoke; and as he began 
to speak, all of the circle who had before heard him knew at 
once this to be Thomas Paine, and this wonderful oration is set 
out at paragraph 2345, as his oral effort No. 3. 

And when the spirit had ended this oration, his form 
faded away into a mist, which vanished apparently down 
through the floor. This noble angelic soldier, at whom an oc- 
casional Fourth of July orator hurls, serpent-tongued. his ven- 
omous anathemas, Thomas Paine, than whom no one man did 
more to secure the privilege whereby such orators may traduce 
the character of one of the world's great benefactors and yet es- 
cape the guillotine. 

(a) As Paine was fading away, the voice of Sam. in the 
cabinet, spoke, saying: "Py shiminy! I 'm going to advocate 
shust vatefer I blease, now don'dt you forgot dot." 

Mirthfulness. 

221. As Sam's words ceased. Prof. Denton walked out tine* 
or four feet from the door and put his hands upon the chair back, 
being very brilliant and perfect in form, seeming very mirthful 
— putting on something of a clownish voice and speech and ac- 
tions, almost eclipsing our clever Sam. 

Secretary, addressing the Professor: "William, good- 
evening;." 



48 REXDIXG THE VAIL. 

The spirit replied: "You speak of rue almost too familiarly. 
You should say, 'Professor Denton.' " 

Secretary: "I thought you used to desire no prefix but 
William." 

Spirit: "Yes, sir; but I 'ye changed since that day. Do you 
recognize my yoice?" 

Secretary: "I think I do." 

Spirit: "Oh, you think you do!" uttering the words with 
such clownish sarcasm that it put the whole circle into a mood 
of hearty laughter. 

The spirit carried on this mirthful conversation with yarious 
members of the circle for several minutes. 

(a) So it seems that even the angels sometimes enjoy the 
sunshine of innocent mirth. 

(b) The reader should bear in mind that one object of these 
efforts is to show that in spirit life are used all the natural 
faculties for social entertainment. 

222. One resembling Gen. Sheridan emerged from the cab- 
inet in military dress, saluting as with drawn sword, and, after 
a little sword exercise, engaged in conversation with Capt. 
Haughey: 

Haughey: "Say, General, it required nerve to go through 
what some of us had to in the Rebellion?" 

Sheridan: "Yes, sir. I did my duty on the field of battle 
for my country, and you too were a brave boy. Now other 
battles are to be fought, which require brave soldiers. Go on in 
this good work, and never give up while breath is in you." 

The Fog-Horn Boy. 

223. The attention of the circle was called to another cloud 
mist on the carpet near the spot where Paine had made up. Now 
another form rises out of that cloudy appearance, clad in male 
attire, and presents a small tin horn that had been formerly used 
in the room for trumpet voices. This spirit now blew this horn, 
"T-o-o-t, t-o-o-t, t-o-o-t!" repeating the triple blowing several 
times, and then directed his attention to Bro. House, talking for 
a little time, then repeating the triple blowing very loudly. He 
talked with a voice as of a man whose voice had not changed 
as is common with male voices in youth. 

House: "Give us your name." 

Spirit: "You called me Little Tommy. Don't you remem- 
ber the fog-horn man, Little Tommy? T-o-o-t, T-o-o-t, T-o-o-t!" 
very loudly. 

House: "Oh, yes; now I remember. You were fog-horn 
boy on the steamboat, about St. Louis, a long time ago." 

Spirit: "Yes, sir. I thought you would know me. Some- 
times I had to blow that fog-horn all night long." 



BENDING THE VAIL. 49 

House: "Yes; I know you now. I 've heard you blow that 
horn for us many times." 

224. Spirit Reed stepped out to the desk, unlocked it in his 
usual way, then examined papers and tablets, took some of the 
tablets into the cabinet, remained a few minutes, then returned 
with one, opened it, and asked the secretary to step up to him 
and see his little magnetic machine with which he writes. The 
secretary did so, and observed some small instrument in the 
spirit's hand, near his finger-points. The spirit, holding it up in 
his open hand quite near to the secretary's eyes, said: "That is 
the machine we write with. It is a magnetic, spirit writing 
machine.'- The secretary being reseated. The spirit writes, the 
secretary and president marking the time of writing by the 
second hand of a watch. 

Reed's paper Xo. IS (1329-1337), time, 75 seconds; number of 
words, 333; rate, 314 per minute. 

225. The next spirit to write was Toms Nixon, and thus he 
wrote : 

(a) "Friends, how sweet to the mother that may feel her 
babe's restless head pressing her breast a long time after the 
body is dead — no, not dead, but only a changed condition. 

(b) "Friends, when she is sitting alone in the dim twilight, 
thinking of other and happier days, she will involuntarily put 
out a quick, glad hand to the one that was never slow to answer ; 
but now, alas! there is no tender responsive clasp. 

(c) "Turning with a strong, keen throb of painful remem- 
brance, she sees, in the semi-darkness, only the empty chair — 
lonely and motionless, where once a beloved form rested and a 
warm heart beat. 

(d) "And many and many a time, while the lonely hours of 
midnight were beating themselves away, you will leap from 
dreams of remembered kisses and stretch out your empty arms in 
passionate ronging — and then you are almost sure that, at such 
times, your dear ones are with you once more. 

(e) "Spirit life is a garden of flowers. 

(Signed) "T. Nixon:' 
Time, 20 seconds; 170 words; rate, 510 words per minute. 

226. The spirit Faraday, claiming to be the same spirit 
that gave through another medium "Planetary Evolution," gave 
his writing Xo. 9, which is a reproduction, partially. (2623.) 
In the "Planetary Evolution" it is claimed the matter was given 
by inspiration or through the organism of a sensitive. In this 
case the spirit uses the presence of a sensitive to temporarily 
reclothe itself with form, and there through it gives direct, as ir 
were, the same matter. 

227. The spirit desires to prove that there may be "diversi 
ties of gifts" to divers persons, "but the same spirit"; also to 
show that if Faradav in the one case, as claimed, why not Fara- 



50 RENDING THE VAIL. 

day in the other? And farther, that spirits are able to recall 
and reproduce their former utterances. 

227^. We find, from our experiments here, that spirits are 
able to read thoughts of different members of the circle, and 
also to quote from any book or paper in the room at the time of 
the seance. 

228. Therefore we take every possible pains to know that 
the paper on which writing is done has no writing on it at the 
time the alleged spirit form begins to write, so that by no artifice 
whatever can we be imposed upon by fraud or accomplice. 

229. Satisfied of these things, the amazing swiftness of the 
execution of the writings must forever remove such execution 
to some intelligence not known to exist in mortal form. 

230. After Faraday, Prof. Denton made his writing No. 8. 
(1652.) Time, 18 seconds; 200 words; over 11 words per second, 
and the astounding rate of 686 words per minute. 

231. As Denton returned into the cabinet the spirit Thomas 
Paine, in a clear, plain, and very legible hand, with unparalleled 
swiftness, made his writing No. 3. Time, 10 seconds; 171 words; 
over 17 words per second, and the amazing rate of 1026 words 
per minute. (2313.) 

232. The time of the writings of this seance was carefullv 
noted in three ways: first, Oapt. Haughey held a watch that at 
the time was accurately marking seconds; second, the vibrations 
of the pendulum marking seconds, and counted by the whole 
circle, or at least by six of them; and third, the secretary and 
others counted pulse-beats. All three of the methods were found 
to substantially agree. 

Let the reader review the writings of this seance. He will 
find the whole number of words written to be 1069. The whole 
time taken up by the writers, 135 seconds — 2J minutes. This 
shows that 430 words per minute were written. 

If Dr. Reed's writing be omitted, then the other four spirits 
occupied just 1 minute of time, and in that 1 minute the four 
wrote 676 words. 

233. Now let the reader ask how many words the swiftest 
shorthand writer on earth can write in 1 minute, and he will 
learn that he cannot get out 300 words ; but if he be confined to 
longhand, the same as these alleged spirits, he will have less 
than 100 words to the minute; so that the average time of these 
psychic writings is six times that of the swiftest longhand pen- 
man, and at least two and a half times as swift as any mortal 
shorthand writer, and three times as fast as a good reader can 
utter words. 

234. At the beginning of this seance various members of 
the circle critically examined the tablets, found them clean, and 
locked them in the desk, leaving none in the desk but clean 
tablets. At the close of the seance they again examined the 



BENDING THE VAIL. 51 

tablets, and found that the writings had been torn from the 
identical tablets first locked in the desk as above stated. 

(a) And still farther, as the alleged spirits were writing 
the secretary, Capt. Haughey, Mr. Boicourt, and C. V. N. House 
were so situated as to be able to see distinctly that the paper 
was blank as the writing began, in each case, and could see the 
writing come on the paper as the spirit hand moved along, just 
as is the case with an ordinary scribe, except as to time of 
executing the writing. 

(b) Such were the methods of procedure of investigation 
by this circle. The reader is asked to carefully consider and 
determine for himself whether scientific or not. And not for 
one seance, but for more than one hundred seances. 



Seance No. 25. 

January 11, 1891. 

235. The spirit forms were more than usually brilliant in 
appearance, conversation, wit, humor, and deep thought. 

236. Among the materializations, one with a priest's cap on 
looked to be very intelligent; he said, "I am Martin Luther," 
and retired. 

237. Another quickly emerged from the cabinet, looking 
quite comical, taking the chair ahead of him to a point beyond 
the center of the room from the cabinet door. Leisurely he 
looked about the room a moment, and then said: "I am Artemus 
Ward." 

Capt. Haughey: "Artemus Ward?" 

Spirit: "Yes, sir; Artemus Ward." 

Haughey: "And you are Artemus Ward?" 

Spirit (leaning over the chair back till his face was near to 
Haughey's face): "Yes, sir; the veritable Artemus Ward." 
Then, straightening up, he said to Haughey: "Your name is 
Haughey, I believe." 

Haughey: "Yes, sir." 

Spirit: "Say, Mr. Haughey, did you ever hear about that 
fellow that got upon a lard-barrel to show off, and just as the 
show began the head of the barrel gave way and let the fellow 
into the lard up to his arm-pits ?" 

Haughey: "I don't know that I did." 

Spirit: "And you say you never heard about that?" 

Haughey: "I don't think I did." 

Spirit (retiring backward, smiling): "It seems to me you 
heard about it very lately." 

The spirit retired amid great merriment of the circle at Rro. 
Haughey's expense. 

238. Father King then stood in the cabinet door and took 
the horn, making the "voice of the trumpet long and loud," say 



52 RENDING THE TAIL. 

ing : "G-o-o-d-e-v-e-n-i-n-g, f-r-i-e-n-d-s. I 'm glad to meet you 
all this evening. And still the good work goes on and on and 
on, and will continue to go on." 

239. There having been some question, in conversation 
among the circle, as to whether this spirit had actually visited 
Jupiter, he continued very loudly: "I have visited all the 
planets on earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars — all of them and their 
inhabitants, and I know about them all." As he returned into 
the cabinet the voice of Sam cried out: "And Moses mit de 
bulrushes." 

240. Then Sam himself came out and assisted in placing 
the writing-desk in position, and, after making much merriment 
for us, retired. 

241. Then spirit Keed stepped out to the writing-desk, and, 
while unlocking it and arranging the tablets, soliloquized thus: 
"I can't understand why it is that some who have been here not 
so long as 1 have can talk so much stronger than I can. This 
passes my comprehension." 

(a) This he said in tones just a little above a whisper, but 
louder than we had before heard him speak. Several of us 
remarked: "You are improving in vocalization, Doctor." 

(o) Keed then took papers and tablets from the desk into 
the cabinet, soon returning with them, and in one of the tablets 
wrote his No. 19. (1338-1343.) 

242. And Denton his No. 9. (1656.) While Denton was 
writing this he was also making merriment for the circle by 
what we call dry puns, jokes, anecdotes, etc. Among the many 
episodes, when he had about half finished this writing, he 
stopped, raised his right hand a little, and rather smilingly 
looked at the secretary, saying: "Say, Mr. Nixon, do you remem- 
ber that at one time you and I were at a festival, and that op- 
posite you at table sat a gentleman who, on the horseradish be- 
ing passed, took an overdose, mistaking it for sauer-kraut?" 

Nixon: "I remember the incident, and that we feasted 
together several times." 

Denton: "Yes. Well, when that horseradish took effect, 
which it did very suddenly, requiring vigorous use of handker- 
chief about eyes and nose — " 

Nixon: "Yes." 

Denton: "And you asked the poor fellow what caused such 
intense weeping?" 

Nixon: "Yes." 

Denton: "And he said he had sudden remembrance that 
his grandmother, good soul, had been dead just two and a half 
years?" 

Nixon: "Oh, yes; I remember that incident/' 

Denton (as he resumed writing): "You have an excellent 
memory." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 53 

243. Faraday wrote bis No. 10, 011 change of seasons and 
climatic conditions. (2G25.) 

244. Then Father King wrote his No. 10, it being mostly 
in answer to questions corresponding to the answers in this 
writing, and up to date with science. (2739-2743.) 

Seance No. 26. 

January 18, 1891. 

245. Spirit Denton, greeting us in made-up form, in answer 
to the question, "Have animals souls?" said: "Intelligent ani- 
mals have souls. The dog, the cat, the horse, and I, have souls. 
But, jokes aside, every intelligence has a soul. When you were a 
babe you were intelligent, but could not talk — could only say, 
'Wee, wee'; yet you then had a soul." 

246. A wonderful make-up and oral speech of Thomas 
Paine. On the outside of the cabinet, between the west side 
of the room and cabinet door shutter, as the shutter was open, 
arose a phosphorescent appearance, which gradually assumed 
human shape, clothed as a man, having the appearance of the 
age of fifty, and of near six feet tall; having, also, in appearance, 
rather small veneration, and a good degree of front brain. At 
length this form, in highly finished oratory and rhetoric, with 
a very musical intonation of voice and fascinating power, such 
as but few orators possess, began speaking an oration which 
we recognize as No. 4 of Thomas Paine. As the spirit finished 
this speech he graduallv sank, until he apparently vanished 
through the floor. (2346.) 

247. In a moment a form was standing in the cabinet door 
way, which was recognized by us all as the same person whom 
we had just seen vanish downward to the* floor and out of sight. 

248. The cabinet door shutter stood open at right angles 
to front, so that the door opening of the cabinet was, to us, on the 
left of the shutter, and the first appearance of this spirit was, 
to us, to the right of the shutter. The door shutter was between 
the first appearance and the door opening. From where the 
spirit first appeared there was no way into the cabinet, except 
endosmosis (the wall of the cabinet being in the way), but to go 
round the cabinet in full sight of all the circle. But, at this time, 
no one of the circle saw this form or any form pass round the 
shutter. On the contrary, the members of the circle saw the 
downward dematerialization of the spirit form on the right hand 
of the shutter, and all in the room (twelve persons) saw, immedi- 
ately, the same form standing in the cabinet doorway to the 
left of the shutter. 

Query: Was this dematerialization and immediate reform, 
or was it endosmosis? 

249. As this form withdrew from our sight behind the in- 
side cabinet door curtains. E. V. Wilson, in his old-time appear- 



54 RENDING THE VAIL. 

ance, greeted us in full visible form, saying: "I wish I could 
talk like that man. He is a master mind, a lofty genius." 

250. Among the many forms of this seance was one repre- 
senting a Chinaman, talking, chattering between whisper and 
oral speech, but we could not understand. He would say: ''Me 
no likee Melican man; me Shina" (pointing downward). 

We ask: "Can't you get at something we can understand 
or comprehend ?" He would reply, "Me Shina," and then panto- 
mime as though writing, and say, "Me litee." 

We say: "You will try to write for us some time?" He 
answers with an affirmative bow. 

The reader may ask: "If he could understand Euglish, why 
not speak and write it?" By reference elsewhere it will be 
learned that spirits discern thoughts and know them inde- 
pendently of an arbitrary lingual expression of thought. (2849- 
2850.) 

251. Spirit Reed at length stood forth at the writing-desk, 
and took two of the tablets therefrom into the cabinet. In a few 
moments he returned and wrote in our full and plain sight his 
paper No. 20. (1344-1347.) 

252. When Reed had retired, an angel whom we did not 
know stood at the desk and made, on the paper, below Reed's 
writing, these characters, to-wit: 




WHAT IS IT? 

253. So far, we fail to find that this writing is any known 
style of shorthand, nor have we learned that the characters be- 
long to any known language of modern date. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 55 

(a) But Prof. Denton said that the spirit who wrote this 
is an ancient who lived in the mortal twenty-live thousand years 
ago; and that this language is now entirely obliterated from the 
earth, and that no mortal can now translate or interpret this 
writing; that he (Denton) thinks some spirit will sometime trans- 
late it for us; that by and by it will be found of millions of dol- 
lars of value; and that this spirit comes from the higher spheres, 
for the moment, at the special invitation of these controls. 

254. If here is a message in a language that is entirely un- 
known to the entire human race on earth, we have the evidence, 
at once, that must prove beyond every possible cavil the genuine- 
ness of these phenomena here; and the absolute genuineness of 
our claims as to the cause of the phenomena. Xo possible theory 
yet promulgated, other than as Spiritualism claims, con hi ac- 
count for it. 

255. After this stranger had written and retired, spirit 
Denton wrote in a very clear, legible hand his Xo. 10. (1658.) 

250. When Denton had done and retired, that scientific 
sage, Prof. Faraday, tall and graceful, emerged from the cabinet 
and made his writing Xo. 11. (263-2.) 

Here is more reproduction of some matter of the Faraday 
pamphlets. 

257. At a seance January 21, 1891, there was the phenom- 
enon of an oration by a full-form visible materialization to a mag- 
nificent degree. Spirit Denton, standing near the center of the 
room, said, in good oral speech, his oration Xo. 1. (1922.) 

258. On this occasion Erastus Coffin, in very complete iden- 
tity of form, stood brilliantly in our midst and discoursed some- 
what in his old-time eloquent manner, at great length — at least 
ten minutes — saying in substance that he was a spiritualist even 
when trying to preach what was called the gospel. He never 
opened that Bible for a text but what spirit communion stared 
him in the face. And sometimes he got so far along as to be 
"objectionable to the brethren." But his love of popularity for- 
bade that he should sail out into open sea. Before closing the 
mortal life he had almost entirely left the ministry, but durst 
not let the w r orld know how r the windows of heaven had been 
opened unto him. 



Seance No. 21. 

January 25, L891. 
259. (a) In addition to the regular members of the circle 
and two who had previously set with us, Dr. Worthen, of Paola, 
Kansas, was admitted. 

{!)) The forms were not so brilliant as usual, nor did they 
get so far away from the cabinet. 



56 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(c) There were, however, some twenty materializations, but 
most of them had, on several prior occasions, stood forth be- 
fore us. 

260. The test concerning the locking and unlocking of the 
desk: The desk being put into place in front of cabinet door, 
spirit Reed, the chemical control, standing in the cabinet door, 
invited the secretary up and said to him: "Please take the cork 
out of the mucilage bottle and put some mucilage on a small 
piece of paper and have Mr. House paste the paper over the key- 
hole of the desk." Mr. House did paste the paper so as to cover 
the keyhole in such manner as that the lock of the desk could not 
be reached by key from the outside of the desk without tearing 
or removing the paper. After the paper was thus pasted over 
the keyhole, the desk was examined by the circle and the lid 
found to be locked. Then the desk so locked, with the keyhole 
so covered by said paper pasted across the keyhole, was placed 
near to the cabinet door, where the spirit was standing as he 
watched the process of covering the keyhole. 

261. In a little while after the desk was placed before him 
with the covered keyhole, the spirit Reed unlocked and raised 
the lid without breaking the paper that covered the keyhole; and, 
after looking the tablets over as usual, wrote, but not so rapidly 
as usual, his paper No. 21. (1348-1357.) 

262. Then Faradav made his paper No. 12, in continuation 
of his No. 11. (2633.) " 

263. Then there was a writing signed "Will Denton" : 

(a) "All true minds look upon men and things. Individual 
triumphs are wrong, but come out purified at last, like gold — all 
the better for trial. 

(b) "Who has the courage of soul to say he believes it? 
still more the independence to live his nature out? What will 
people say? Perhaps you belong to the church, perhaps you feel 
like bursting away from your sectarian bands and doing your 
own thinking. 

(Signed) "Will Denton." 

264. This hardly seems like Prof. Denton, nor did the writer 
seem to have as full reflectives as the Prof. Denton. There may 
be some Denton much resembling Prof. Denton, but who was 
generally known as Will Denton. Moreover, this is an elliptical 
writing. 

265. A personage resembling Faraday, but not quite so tall, 
wrote thus: 

(a) "You can give up everything, friends, but this glorious 
light that is shining. 

(b) "If the luminary which now sheds its light upon you 
and interpermeates your sphere should sink forever in your 
ocean bed, clouds and perpetual death would environ you. 



REXD1XG THE VAIL. 57 

(c) "As this dispels fogs, heats your air, and aurifies and 
illuminates the world." 

Seance No. 28. 

February 2, 1891. 

266. About twenty very brilliant materializations. Among 
them, Thomas Paine came forth again as described in the urin- 
ates of last meeting, and gave us a little talk thus: 

(a) ''Friends, prepare yourselves with an arsenal, one that 
can be heard the wide world over. Fraud is the word. Fraud 
is the cry. Fraud is the argument. Fraud, fraud, fraud! All 
these forty years 'fraud' settles the question. Get you a club — 
not with tongue, but with hand as well. Hold your heads up. 
Boldly defy them, as I used to do, and you will be more respected. 
Bear in mind what I have said and what I have told you. 

(b) "We come to tell you for the world of the glorious real- 
ities beyond the tomb." 

(c) Then vanishing, or rather fading away as fades away the 
fog of a valley by the hot sunshine, he suddenly reappeared in 
full form in the cabinet doorway, then instantly stepped back 
of the door vail, and, as he did so, a form which we all recog- 
nized as 

267. Spirit Denton rushed past the retreating form of 
Paine, to a chair just in front of the cabinet door, shoving the 
chair ahead of him, with his hands, to a point about six feet 
from the cabinet door. With brilliant, sparkling eyes, and all 
animation, he found a voice and made his oration and colloquy 
No. 2. (1930.) 

26S. As Denton returned into the cabinet that peculiarly 
attired, venerable, tall, commanding personage whom we recog- 
nize at first sight under the sobriquet of Father King stood, full 
form, in plain sight of us all, and, in a loud, deep, guttural 
voice, saluted us: "Good-evening, friends." Then he picked up 
the trumpet and spoke through it his oration No. 1. (2740.) 

269. Erastus K. Coffin, a Methodist minister while in the 
mortal and a cousin of the secretary, next appeared upon this 
spiritual rostrum, in the center or near the center of the room 
and five feet from the cabinet dorway, at the back of a chair, 
after the manner of standing when preaching in a private house. 
and in good, round oral speech, spoke to us some ten minutes. 
somewhat thus : 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. How d' ye do. Mr. Secretary? 
Do you think you could challenge me for discussion now?" 

"(b) Secretary: "It is likely that if I should, I would be 
vanquished in the undertaking." 

(c) Spirit: "Well. I suppose you would." 

(of) Question: "You once preached as a Methodist; would 
you preach the same way now?" 



58 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(e) Spirit: u 0h no; except in small part. I used to swallow 
as good, wholesome spiritual food the whole record — fish-story 
and all; but much of it was spewed out with the old body, and 
when I found it gone, I felt as much relieved from the abomina- 
tion as did that mythological whale when he got rid of the in- 
digestible Jonah. 

270. "Friends, this is a beautiful world where I am — and 
this work in which you are engaged is more glorious than any 
of you can yet know. But the world is so ignorant, is so blind, 
is so enveloped in clouds of thick darkness! Oh that I could 
weep away the darkness and gloom that hangs like a dismal pall 
over the inhabitants of earth! I could weep, I could weep my 
own soul away, if thereby I could let the sweet light of heaven 
into one poor, ignorant, benighted, earth-bound pilgrim! 

"All heaven is working for the amelioration of the human 
race from the deep darkness of superstitious ignorance. Oh, the 
dark clouds do roll so slowly away! I could weep — oh, how I 
could weep!" 

(a) Much more of like import did this brilliant visitant from 
beyond the tomb say to us on this, to us, ever-memorable occasion. 

(b) Such solemn, earnest solicitude, such sympathetic 
pathos in the delivery of the oration, we seldom if ever see or 
hear from an orator in the mortal. 

271. As the writing-desk was being placed at position in 
front of the cabinet door Prof. Faraday stood in the door, looked 
around a moment, and retired. Dr. Reed passed him at the door 
out to the desk, unlocked it, examined the tablets, and re- 
turned into the cabinet, taking a tablet with him. Then Denton 
came out to the desk with a tablet in hand, closed the desk 
lid down, placed his tablet thereon, and wrote in his usual manner 
bis paper No. 11. (1664.) 

This was all of the writing at this seance; but spirit Reed 
experimented with the desk lock in a very amusing way, and at 
the same time it was to us an excellent test, if we needed such. 

272. The spirit asked for a pocket-knife. Mr. House handed 
his knife, with the blade open, to the spirit. The spirit took the 
handle in his right hand, and merely placed the point of the 
knife-blade against the desk at the keyhole, and while the point 
of the knife was so held the bolt of the lock slid back and forth, 
locking and unlocking the desk. Someone suggested that the 
spirit manufactured a key from the metal of the knife. 

273. Then the spirit gave the knife back to Mr. House, and 
asked for a long slip of paper. A narrow slip of paper, some 
eight inches in length, was handed to the spirit. The spirit stood 
away from the desk so as only to conveniently touch the key- 
hole with the farther end of the said slip of paper as the paper 
was held by one end in the extended right hand of the spirit. 



BENDING THE VAIL. 59 

Then we could hear the bolt of the desk lock slide hack and 
forth, locking and unlocking the desk. 

214:. When the spirit would thus lock the lid, he would ask 
that some person of the circle try to raise the lid, but on such 
trial the lid was invariably found to be locked. Then the spirit 
Avould again reach to the lock with the end of the said strip of 
paper, we would thereupon hear the lock bolt slide, and on trial 
tind the desk unlocked. This experiment was repeated until 
every member of the circle was satisfied of the test and that the 
test was beyond question genuine. We know it was done, but 
how we do not know\ 

It is said that in the olden time spirits could and did unlock 
things that were fastened by lock and key, and we know it is 
done now. 

Seance No. 20. 

February 8, 1891. 

275. T. C. Buddington, of Massachusetts, who claims to be 
the sensitive used by the spirit M. Faraday for the production of 
the Faraday pamphlets, having been in this neighborhood for 
several days, on this evening visited our seance, as a scientific 
critic. 

There was but little spirit oral oration given us at this time, 
but there were some twenty good materializations. The very 
first one w T as so complete, and its individuality so different from 
that of the medium, as to take Prof. Buddington's mind clear 
beyond the region of fraud for explanation. 

270. Professor Buddington claims some knowledge of eso- 
teric philosophy, in answer to which a form made up and stood 
out before us, claiming to be the veritable Buddha, and the Pro- 
fessor acknowiedges a resemblance to his clairvoyant appearance. 

277. Then Prof. Win. Denton is presented and engages Prof. 
Buddington in conversation. 

278. Next came a form that has all along been before 11s 
as Prof. Faraday; our visitor concludes the appearance genuine. 

279. Then Thomas Paine rises up outside the cabinet; we all 
recognize and speak to him, and he responds in good oral speech. 
Our visitor asked: "Are you the veritable Thomas Paine of 
American Revolutionary history?" The spirit answered, "I am 
he," and, raising his hands and eyes upward, passed out of our 
sight, seemingly going down through the solid floor, and instantly 
is standing full form in the cabinet door, rive or six feet from 
where he went down as above stated, saying. "Well, friends, here 
is Thomas Paine again," and simply vanished. 

279^. Then came a form, a stranger to the circle, but who 
said his name was John Buddington; our visitor acknowledged 
the facsimile. 



60 RENDING THE VAIL. 

280. At last our clever Sam held colloquy with Prof Bud- 
dington, to the visitor's astonishment. 

281. Now came the writing, which knocked all incredulity 
out of- our visitor, except as to the identity of the claimed person- 
alities, behind an assumed theory that these controls set out 
these forms as automatons and with such automatons play upon 
our fancy, deceiving us only as to the personality, and another 
side of the question, the same as used by our religious oppo- 
nents, that the forms are mischievous spirits making false 
representations. 

282. But Denton now makes his writing No. 12 (1670), on 
the unity and dimensions of the material universe, prophetic of 
what may be expected in the coming ages of spirit life. 

283. Then spirit Reed, in his No. 22, continued the subject 
into the realm of spirit power, with such wonderful logic as to 
amaze our visitor, he knowing of the limited knowledge of our 
medium. 

The reader is urged to study these two writings: Reed's, 
1358 to 1361; Denton's, 1670 to 1674. 

Seance No. 29\. 

February 15, 1891. 
281. Eight members of the regular circle were present. 
Visitors admitted: Caroline Job, Keturah Hartuug, Pearl Har- 
tung, and Anna Harrison, of Wellsville, Kansas. 

(a) The materializations were very good and the individual- 
ities mostly well set out. 

(&) There was a very great change in the appearing of those 
forms that arose from the floor. 

(c) Instead of rising as a mist or cloud and developing as 
they arose, they came up already developed as they arose, and 
presented the exact appearance as though there were an opening 
through the floor of the room just in front of the cabinet door 
and the forms brought up through the opening on the platform 
of an elevator, and the disappearance of the forms was as though 
going down through the floor on the platform of an elevator; but 
the floor at the same time had no such opening. 

(d) Neither was there any appearance of elevator platform, 
but the forms themselves only appeared as they would have 
appeared coining up into the room on an elevator platform. 

(e) In both the ascending and descending of the forms as 
the chin would reach the floor level the whole countenance of the 
form, arising or going down, as the case might be, was very 
bright. 

285. Prof. Wm. Denton stood before us and made to us, 
in clear oral speech, his third oration, partly in answer to the 
allegation that the form here claiming to be Prof. Wm. Denton 
was somebodv else, or another Denton. 



REX DIN a THE VAIL. Q\ 

286. When the desk was placed for writing, spirit Reed 
took from the desk two tablets into the cabinet, and, soon re- 
turning with them, wrote very rapidly his No. 23. (1362- 
1364 a.) 

287. Then Prof. Denton made his writing No. 13 (1676), and, 
while writing it, spoke of the reason that sometimes they take 
the tablets into the cabinet, as being to magnetize or sensitize 
the paper to secure the impress of the writing as the photo- 
graphic plate is sensitized to receive the impress of the desired 
object on it. 

288. When these writings were done and the spirit Denton 
retired, Prof. Faraday stepped out to the desk, picked up the 
papers, one at a time, upon which Reed and Denton had written, 
and examined them as though for criticism; then, as he laid them 
down, he said: "I do not see that any correction is needed.'' 

289. According to the promise, spirit photography became 
one phase of this sensitive's mediumship; but, as this has been 
given to great extent by others, there is but little space devoted 
to it in this volume, except as the regular seance incidents call 
it forth. 

We had been discussing the question as to how the negatives 
are made — whether the spirit artists impress the picture on the 
sensitive plate in some peculiar way, or whether the picture is 
taken from a materialization sufficiently made up to reflect or 
radiate actinic rays. 

290. The control Sam having, as he alleged, heard our talk, 
said, in his peculiar German brogue: a Those pictures are not 
stamped on the plates. Every spirit picture taken here so far 
is materialized on — that is, is an impression on the plate by 
actinic radiations from the materialized spirit form. They are 
not stamped on there at all, not one of them. My medium is not 
running the stamping business." 

Seance No. 80. 

February 22, 1891. 

291. (a) In addition to the visitors of the last seance. G. 
H. Walser and his wife Hannah, of Liberal, Missouri, were ad- 
mitted to this sitting. 

(b) Notwithstanding the amount of new material in the 
circle, the materializations were fairly good, and quite an amount 
of good oral speech was given to us. 

292. For the benefit of the visitors, a spirit stood outside 
the cabinet and drew the cabinet door curtains aside, so as to 
show to all the circle the medium sitting quietly in his chair in- 
side the cabinet. This experiment was prolonged until each 
person of the circle confessed entire satisfaction that, at least 
in that instance, there was no fraud on the part of the medium. 



62 RENDING THE VAIL. 

As is customary, much of the time of the seance was giveu 
to spirit friends known to the visitors. 

293. Dr. Keed made his writing No. 24. (1365-1370.) 

294. And Denton his No. 14. (1681.) 

295. Spirit Prof. Faraday gave his writing No. 13. (2639.) 

296. Then a form stood forth at the desk, claiming to be 
eludge Edmonds, and wrote thus: 

"Friends, there is a constant struggle between the lower 
and the higher scales of life, on your earth, to-day; tending ever 
to draw toward the inner principles which, lying midway be- 
tween the upper and the lower, are capable of preaching either 
salvation or damnation. 

(Signed) "Judge Edmonds." 

297. The reader needs to remember that at every seance 
the control Sam is at all times ready with witticisms, jests, sar- 
casms, and scintillations of deep thought, knowledge, wisdom, 
psychic tests, etc., etc., to the great delight, benefit, and instruc- 
tion of the circle. 

Seance No. 31. 

March 1, 1891. 

29S. Present, eight members of the circle, and John Har- 
tung, of Wellsville, Kansas, as a visitor. 

299. The spirit form Toms Nixon, as is his custom at these 
seances, when someone present desires a self-evident test, stood 
forth in the cabinet door, smooth shaven, and looking to be a 
young man; he begins to pass his right hand over his face and chin 
as one does stroking his own whiskers, and after two or three 
strokes of the spirit's hand, the beard begins to appear, and at 
each stroke the beard is seen to be longer and longer, until there 
are long, flowing black whiskers and black hair upon the head; 
then, after pausing a moment, he begins the stroking of the 
whiskers anew, and after several strokes, the whiskers begin 
to turn gray, and at each stroke of the spirit's hand the whiskers 
are more gray until white, and the hair of the head somewhat 
gray ; then a stroke of the hand on top of the spirit's head removes 
the hair, so as to make the partially bald head — and there stands 
the form of an old man, as shown in picture No. 203 ; and then the 
spirit strokes again and the transformation and transforation 
are gradually reversed, until the form stands before us the image 
at least of a young man, without whiskers or beard; then it Sud 
denly vanishes or dematerializes slowly away, beginning at the 
feet, and as the lower part of the body vanishes away the head 
goes slowly down, and finally the chin seems resting on the floor 
and the head is suddenly vanished. 

(a) This one feature, alone, puts all gainsaying of visitors 
to silence. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 63 

Photography. 

300. Psychic photography has been successfully and abund- 
antly entailed upon this medium; and during the day or two past 
Mr. Hartung and others had been sitting for spirit photographs 
with very gratifying success, and upon one plate of Mr. Hartung's 
was a picture that none clearly recognized; so at this seance 
Thomas Paine came forth, standing before us, and said to Mr. 
Hartung: "Do you know I am on your photograph? If you 
examine, you see my hair is roached in front, and you will see 
it is the same way on the photograph." 

301. In answer to a question: "Yes; I was at Memorial 
Hall the other day, and succeeded in getting a speech to the peo- 
ple by one sensitive there." 

302. Then spirit Dr. Reed, after the usual manner, stood 
at the desk and wrote his No. 25. (1371-1375 (&).) 

303. Then that bold, thought-enunciating personage, Thomas 
Paine, made his writing No. 4. (2318.) 

304. At a special seance one claiming to be Epes Sargent 
came forth in our midst and made to us an oral address, exhibit- 
ing much mental vigor, concerning unfoldment: 

(a) "Water may be raised to steam and steam to electricity. 
Franklin gathered electricity from the vapor clouds and bottled 
it up for use. When understood, this was a wonder — a great 
wonder to the world, but wonders never cease, though always 
too far off for theorists. 

(b) "Theorizing settles nothing, is of little avail. Facts, 
positive facts, are the only revelators of true knowledge. 

(c) "In this modern dawning no medium can give clearly 
the dazzling glory thereof. 

(d) "Words are too cumbersome, too inadequate. No hu- 
man speech can convey to any in the mortal anything more than 
a vague conception of our Father's mansions. 

(e) "You ask me for a sketch of the morning land; but the 
best vehicles of thought from us to you are entirely too gross to 
convey sufficient facts to your comprehension. 

(/) "This is my first effort here, and I cannot hold condi- 
tions longer now. although I am here to stay." 



Seance No. 32. 

March s. 1891. 

305. Six of the regular circle, and E. S. Edwards and wife, 
Sarah Lovell, of Spring Hill, and Dr. Price, of Clinton, Mo., vis 
itors, are present. 

306. Spirit Reed arose at the desk outside the cabinet— that 
is, the form was made up outside the cabinet, instead of inside, a- 
usual, so that the circle beheld the form being made up ;it the 



64 RENDING THE TAIL. 

desk, and saw it begin to write his No. 26, and vanish downwards. 
(1376.) 

307. Immediately that indefatigable worker in psychics, 
Prof. Denton, arose in the same place, took up the wide 26-line 
tablet, tore therefrom a leaf, took the leaf by the lower left-hand 
corner between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, and 
then extended his left hand and arm upward to an elevation above 
his left shoulder of about 45°, the single sheet of light, thin, 
tablet paper also moving upward its plane with the line of eleva- 
tion of the left arm, the paper still being retained between the 
thumb and forefinger of the thus elevated left hand; then the 
right hand was quickly elevated to a position just above the 
paper and moved over the paper as if writing; and when, appar- 
ently, the bottom line was written, the leaf was laid upon the 
table and another leaf was quickly torn from the same tablet, 
likewise held aloft in the spirit's left hand, written upon by the 
spirit's right hand, and let fall upon the floor near the center 
of the room; it was picked up by Mr. House and passed to Mr. 
Price, who retained it to the close of the seance, when we found 
twenty-four lines written on that sheet and signed "William 
Denton." 

This whole writing movement of this arisen brother was 
done in the clear sight of the whole circle present, and was done 
with as wonderful rapidity as any we have had to this time, not 
less than near 600 words per minute. We had thoroughly ex- 
amined these tablets before the seance, and found all clean of 
any writing whatever. And this writing constitutes spirit Den- 
ton's writing No. 15. (1687.) 

308. As Denton retired downwards that personage who 
served as a sledge-hammer to break the way for an influx of light 
from on high arose to the desk and wrote very rapidly, to-wit: 

(a) "No human 'crank' can stop this march. This light 
is infinitely divine in self-manifestations of angels to men. Their 
first manifestations commenced in spirit life. No human being 
can control it; neither can popes, bishops, or priests. It is like 
the law of gravitation — it is self-evident and imperishable. It 
is everlasting because its highest aim is the endless unfoldment 
or development of the spirit immortal, inherent in each individ- 
ual of the human race. 

(b) "Through all the unfolding evolutions and cycles of 
time, this work will be still onward and upward. 

(c) "Though born in the bosom of the eternal, yet the sweet 
influence is seen in the blush of the rose, in the rolling march of 
the spheres. It ever seeks to uplift the human spirit into the 
realm of eternal thought. 

(d) "We proudly knock at the shining doors of both the ter- 
restrial and celestial. We enter the golden gateway to the ever- 
fruitful field of this true philosophy. 



B 



RENDING THE VAIL. 65 

(e) "This reveals to man's inner consciousness that within 
his coarser rudimental garments there lies a spirit germ immor- 
tal that shall rise triumphant over the king of terrors and the 
grave and live forevermore. 

(Signed) U E. V. Wilson ." 

309. One very interesting feature of this seance was that, 
at times, while one spirit was at the writing-desk, another was 
standing in the cabinet door; and this fact was freely commented 
upon by the circle at the time of the occurrence. 

Seance No. 33. 

March 15, 1891. 
• 310. (a) Present, six persons of the regular circle; P. H. 
Watson, of Liberal, Mo., Mrs. Dr. Lamb and J. B. Lamb, of Par- 
sons, Kas., Mrs. Long, of Kansas City, Mr. A. G. Newton, of 
Olathe, Kas., and one other person, as visitors; making twelve 
persons as sitters in this seance. 

(b) This seance was not so good in phenomena as at the 
meetings for several weeks past. 

311. The personage we generally recognize as Thomas 
Paine stood forth at the cabinet door. One of the visitors re- 
marked to one of the circle that this form "resembles Mr. Aber." 
The form instantly vanished, and immediately there stood a form 
large and tall in the cabinet door, looking as much as it is pos-ubl 1 
different in every w T ay from the medium. This satisfied or 
seemed to satisfy all minds in the circle but the one. 

312. When the sceptic as to steam propelling a boat up 
stream w 7 as standing on the bank of the Hudson, demonstrating 
w T hat a fool Fulton w T as, he was told: "Look! yonder she comes; 
she goes by, puffing away. What say you now, Mr. Steamboat 
Sceptic?" "Yes; she moves, but not by steam. She goes, but 
any fool knows steam can't move her along; some power of the 
devil may,*' w T as the substance of his reply. 

313/ After considerable display of materialization, spirit 
Dr. Keed stood forth at the desk and made his writing No. '27. 
(1380-1383.) 

314. In partial answer to a question as to whether or not 
there ever w T as, south of Africa, a continent, now under water, 
there was this waiting: 

"Yes, there is evidence which goes to prove that the con- 
tinent Lamura did exist, and that it sank several years before 
Atlantis. We will write more upon this subject later on. 

(Signed) "Father King." 

Special Seance. 

March 19. 1891. 

315. Thomas Paine stood at the desk and took therefrom two 
geological specimens, examined them, and asked the secretary: 



66 LEX DING THE VAIL. 

316. "Do you know, sir, the geologic place of this fossilized 
fish? This is but a small portion of that fish. The duration of 
the life of this fish was about one hundred years. It belongs to 
the super or upper carboniferous limestone, and was an inhabit- 
ant of the recent carboniferous seas. 

317. ''This starfish fossil seems to be an erratic wanderer. 
In its life it was larger than a common skillet and lived som' 
two hundred years. In its first fossil state it was larger than a 
skillet, bat in its wanderings it has worn and wasted away to its 
present diminutive size; and, if boxed up now, would, probably, 
in less that fifty years, entirely disappear in its present organized 
form, but the particles, the atoms composing it would not be 
lost — they would be giving expression to some finer and higher 
degree of life, in some higher form of life than the starfish. 

318. "You cannot destroy the atom. So you, when the old 
tenement is destroyed, being the life of the atoms composing the 
old tenement, will inhabit a new tenement composed of atoms 
of more spiritualized activity. 

319. "In this new tenement you will be free from sin, 
tobacco, and liquor, and every impurity/' 



Seance No. SJf. 

March 22, 1891. 

320. Six of the regular circle, and as visitors, Leroy Nixon, 
of Kansas City, Mo., Mrs. 1). Lamb, of Parsons, Kas., and George 
Armstrong and wife, of Moline, Kas., present. 

A test for the benefit of the visitors: 

321. A stranger stood in the cabinet door, and asked the 
secretary to stand near him. When the secretary was near to it, 
the spirit said: "Nearer yet, and turn your back to me." Then 
one of the circle took a cane that was in the room, and laid it 
on the heads of the secretary and spirit, so that the whole circle 
could see that the secretary and spirit were of equal height. 
The feet of the spirit were plainly to be seen resting on the floor. 
As this test was going on the spirit was patting the secretary on 
the head and shoulders. 

(a) This seemed a sufficiently scientific test to the visitors 
that the alleged spirit in this case was not the medium, seeing 
that the medium is not as tall as the secretary by nearly six 
inches, and no chance for confederate tricks. 

(b) Sam rose up at the desk, unlocked it, put a copper cent 
into the desk, and said he got it out of Mr. House's pocket. 
Mr. House examined, and said: "You must be mistaken, Sam; 
I don't miss any money." 

Sam replied: "I said I got him out of your pocket, not in 
it." Sam continued at repartee with various members of the 
circle for a short time, and suddenly vanished out of our sight. 



RENDIMG THE VAIL. 67 

(c) Then followed the writings of Reed, Denton, Wimmer, 
and Lamb. Those writers all seemed to materialize at the desk 
outside the cabinet, in the little recess at the northwest corner of 
the cabinet. These materializations and dematerializations were 
in such rapid succession, right in sight of the circle, as to be 
wonderfully astounding even to those of us who have been 
familiar with these phenomena. 

(d) Thomas Paine was one moment in the space outside the 
cabinet, the next moment in the cabinet door, no one seeing him 
go from the space to the door; but he was seen to go down, ap- 
parently, through the floor, and instantly to come out of* the 
cabinet into the doorway. 

322. The writings at this seance were all done at the desk 
on the north side of this little partially enclosed space, and were 
as follows: 

Reed, his No. 28. (1384-1390.) 

323 Denton, continuing a former one on progression, made 
his No. 16, in three parts. (1693.) 

See portrait at 953. 

324. Mr. Lamb, who was recently translated, wrote: 

(a) ''Dear friends, we have an inexpressible longing to com- 
municate with the dear ones left behind. We strive, in every 
possible way, to make you conscious of our presence. While 
dwelling in a higher life and having put aside our coarse, fleshy 
bodies, our love nature soon becomes more active than while on 
earth, and we are often able to pour healing or soothing or puri- 
fying magnetisms upon those, especially, who keep their better 
nature receptive to the pure and good. 

(b) "But how are we received by our friends to whom we 
come so tenderly? Under the baneful and superstitious religions 
of to-day, we will be called devils. A husband, mother, sister, 
or other friend will be made fun of, or told to begone — 'Thou art 
the evil one!' 

(c) ''Whenever we succeed in making an impression, and 
often in grief and tears, w r e are driven back to our divine abode." 

325. Judge Wimmer wrote: 

''This is a glorious world which we inhabit. We travel over 
here, and wait to meet our loved ones there. It is only a step, 
friends, into the realms of the infinite. 

(Signed) "Judge Wimmer" 

Determining Heights of Forms. 

320. During the interim to the next seance we pasted by the 
side of the cabinet doorway, upon the door-casing, strips of white 
paper: one 12 inches above the floor, the next slip 2 feet above 
the floor carpet, and so on at 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 feet, respectively, 
above the floor, with inches marked between, and one paper fixed 
at 5 feet 44 inches, that being the exact height of the medium; so 



68 RENDING THE VAIL. 

that, by this arrangement, all the sitters in the seances could 
easily discern the heights of such persons and forms as would 
visibly appear at the cabinet door or emerge from the cabinet 
into the room. This arrangement we henceforth knew as the 
"spirit height register." 

327. At the first seance thereafter, as soon as the medium 
entered the cabinet, that spirit form which we recognize as Dr. 
Reed stepped out of the cabinet door, looked about the room, 
observed and examined the slips of paper forming the said height 
register, and so stood at the register as that we observed his 
height to be 5 feet 7 inches. Then Reed returned into the cabinet 
and the controls requested that one of us take a cane and, as the 
spirit would stand for measurement, to so hold the cane on the 
spirit's head while the other end of the cane would be against 
the register, marking the exact height of the spirit form being 
so measured. 

328. In this way and manner did we henceforth determine, 
whenever we so desired, the heights of the various alleged 
materializations that stood to our view, and at a single seance 
this list of forms appeared for measurement with their respective 
heights registering as follows, to-wit: 

329. Dr. Reed 5 ft. 7 in. 

Prof. Denton 5 ft. 6 in. 

William Peacock 5 ft. 

Judge Wimmer 5 ft. 11 in. 

Dr. Britt 5 ft. 7 in. 

Harry, a small boy 3 ft. 

Wru/jenks 5 ft. 8 in. 

Wm. Hill 5 ft. 11 in. 

Gen. Sheridan 5 ft. 2 in. 

Will Keplar 5 ft. 5 in. 

Uncle Bobby Rogers 5 ft. 4 in. 

One called Harrison 5 ft. 6 in. 

*Cotubamana 8 ft. 

Mary House 5 ft. 3 in. 

Martha House 5 ft. 5 in. 

A boy and girl form, both at once, side bv side, each. .3 ft. 

Dr. Lamb .' 5 ft. 8 in. 

Zechey as in life, deformed 5 ft. 3 in. 

Zechey as now 5 ft. 8 in. 

Johnny Clark 4 ft. 6 in. 

Henry Overstall 5 ft. 8 in. 

Clarence Wright 4 ft. 10 in. 

Toms Nixon 5 ft. 10^ in. 

Tommy Hines 5 ft. 

Thomas Jenkinson 6 ft. 

Henrv Peacock 5 ft. 8 in. 

Sam Schmidt 5 ft. 9 in. 



RENDING v BE YA1L. () <, 

And so from time to time we measured and obtained all 
variations of height from 1 to 8 feet. 

330. *This extraordinarily large and tall personage repre- 
sents that he is the Indian chief of the island of Higuey, adja- 
cent to Hispaniola, as per Joseph Priest. 

331. At one seance this tall form was mentioned by some 
of the circle, and the question raised as to whether this be who 
it claims; whereupon the secretary remarked that if this were 
the real Cotubainana, the top of his head would more than reach 
the ceiling if he would stand erect. 

332. Immediately there stood in the cabinet doorway a 
very large form, and so tall that his head was against the arch 
over the door, against the ceiling of the room, the form being 
over 8 feet tall. 

333. "Mr. Aber on the back of his chair," says the sceptic. 

334. Well, if Mr. Aber were to stand on the highest pinuacle 
of his chair back, his head would not reach so high as to the 
center of the arch over the door. 

335. Again, he could not stand in or on his chair, in any 
way, in the cabinet door, but what we could see the chair. This 
we all know; and we farther know T that we have never, at any 
time, seen Mr. Aber standing on or attempting to stand upon 
his chair during a seance. 

336. We also do know that we have seen and do «see these 
alleged spirit forms, from the lowest to the tallest, as before 
mentioned, standing with their feet squarely upon the floor of 
the room. We see their feet and entire form from head to foot. 
Some of these forms we discern to be twice, some three times, 
some four or five times the size of Mr. Aber, and some, again, 
not one-third as large as he. 

If our method, here, is not scientific, will some sage tell us 
how the beholding of the falling of Sir Isaac Newton's apple was 
scientific? 

337. Elongation? Yes; Ave have, upon careful discernment, 
proven to our satisfaction that materializations are susceptible 
of extension and contraction, both as to size and height, seem- 
ingly at will; but that only the more proves the intellectuality of 
the phenomena. 

(a) But we now present the reader with a set of facts in 
a single case, Which takes the whole matter entirely out of the 
"statute of frauds": 

338. J. H. Pratt, at whose residence this series of seances 
began, had been laid low, near unto death, by paralysis, and 
among the remedies applied, Dr. Carson, the magnetic healer of 
Kansas City, had been called; and perhaps it was his magnetic 
touch and medical skill that served to prolong his life. 

(a) While the Doctor was, from time to time, visiting iliis 
patient, he arranged for and gave to the citizens here m pnblic 



70 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

discourse, in which he set up his theories as to causes of disease 
and how the magnetic treatment thereof is superior in efficacy 
as remedial. 

(b) Our circle and medium attended this lecture, and we 
all thought it "just grand." 

(c) At our next seance, being March 28, 1891, we congratu- 
lated ourselves on having had the opportunity to hear so good 
a medical discourse, and especially our medium was pleased with 
the discourse. 

338J. Soon after the seance began, that spirit whom we 
have no reason to doubt being the veritable Prof. Denton, in 
visible form, walked out of the cabinet, to a chair in front of the 
cabinet, and there, standing in plain sight of us all, in clear, 
distinct oral speech, made a criticism of the said speech of Dr. 
Carson, not at all in accord with the prior notions and opinions 
of this medium and those of us who heard the medical lecture. 

(a) It is probable that one purpose of this criticism was to 
teach us that the spirit does not always reflect the notions of 
the medium, or of the circle, or of any member of the circle. 

(b) Second, that the thought of the spirit, as given, is 
foreign to that of the circle, and sometimes above the knowledge 
and mental capacity of the whole circle and medium combined. 

(c) Third, that spirits can and do take cognizance of the 
mental operations of mortals, when so desiring. 

id) Therefore this criticism is given as Prof. Denton's ora- 
tions Nos. 4 and 5 (1943-1967), which the reader should imme- 
diately read and well consider; and, especially, persons at all 
versed in materia medica may find something there as deep as to 
be found anvwhere in medical research. 



Seance No. 35. 

March 29, 1891. 

339. Visitors, Mr. J. (i. Clark, of Topeka, Kas., and Leroy 
Nixon, of Kansas City, Mo. 

(a) The reader who is in the least conversant with anatomy 
and physiology must know that human oral speech is produced 
by the instrumentality of certain anatomical apparatus, called 
vocal organs; through these the spirit, while in the mortal form, 
by speech, conveys thoughts to other incarnate spirits who have 
auditory apparatus as a channel of thought reception. 

340. An excarnate must produce speech to an incarnate 
by the same philosophical process that is required for speech 
before transition. 

341. A materialization, to produce audible, articulate 
speech, must be provided with sufficiently formed material vocal 
organs to cause aerial vibrations making impressions of the 
necessary words upon the auditory organs of the incarnate hearer. 



RENDING THE I 1//.. 71 

342. Soine decarnates are inuch more expert in so reclotk- 
ing themselves with these organs of speech than others; and 
we find that of this band of spirits Prof. Denton and Thomas 
Paine show the greatest adaptability in such vocalizations, each 
of them being able to hold and use the materialized vocal organs 
to au amazing degree of approach to their manner of action while 
yet in the mortal. 

343. And so spirit Denton, at this seance, in his old-time 
mode of speech while lecturing in the mortal, continued the sub 
ject of his oration No. 4, making to us his No. 5. (1967.) 

344. When the form of Denton had faded away from our 
sight. Brother Zechey, in very brilliant materialization, stepped 
out of the cabinet to the chair, having the deformed appearance 
of himself while in the mortal. 

When very young he had an attack of malaria, and was then 
so mismanaged by his nurse that his spine just below the Shoul- 
ders was injured; that part of the body below this injury grow 
no more, but above the injury the body grew to natural adult 
size. This injury, also, caused an enormous spinal outward curv- 
ature at the lower points of his shoulder-blades. He was ;t 
common-sized adult body above the injury, and only the size of 
that of a child of eight or ten years below the injury, so that 
his height was not normal by at least eighteen inches or two 
feet. He was transferred to spirit life aged about thirty-two 
years. For some moments this spirit walked about, outside the 
cabinet door, exactly as an uneasy, caged lion, remarking: "Say. 
•labez. did you ever see a caged lion?" Some one in the circle 
remarked: kk He must have had rickets or something of the 
kind." When he replied: "No, I did not." 

345. Then the form straightened up to natural adult height 
and size — deformity all gone, natural symmetry alone remaining 
— talked in a jovial way for a little time, and then said: "Well, 
1 must go back now, if I can get back. I guess I cannot gel 
back. No, I guess I can't get back into the cabinet — guess I 
can't make it." He began to sink down as though passing 
through the floor on an elevator platform, remarking while 
descending: "I am going, I am going." As the month peached 
the floor level, he said aloud, "Good-bye; I ni gone," and vanished 
entirely from our sight. 

346. This scene was doubtless intended to show that while 
in the deformed mortal body, the spirit is as a caged linn: but 
that there comes a time when the cage is broken and the man 
goes free and into an unhampered condition. 

347. At this seance again conies that tall Cotubamana, his 
head resting against the arch over the cabinet door, this arch 
being eight feet from the floor. This form, thus standing, was 
in a stooped position. He said, in good, plain English: "I am 
Cotubamana, of whom your historv speaks. I was eleven feel 
tali." 



72 RENDING THE VAIL. 

348. We asked him to so stand that we could all see his 
full form from head to feet, with his feet on the floor, which he 
did, but in a stooping position; there not being room to stand 
straight, from floor to ceiling being only 8 feet 8 inches. Here 
was an exhibition of a monstrous human frame at least five or 
six times the size of Mr. Aber, the medium. 

349. Dr. Keed made his writing No. 28J, on "The duration 
of Spiritualism." (1391-1395.) 

349J. Denton made his writing No. 18, "The Utterance of 
Truth." (1700.) 

350. Prof. Faraday, No. 14. As increase in mass, decrease 
in stability. But increase in the activity of properties. (2640.) 



Special Seance No. 35\. 

March 31, 1891. 

351. Denton, in oration No. 6, Italy, nebula?, origin of neb- 
ulae, and planetary motions. (2002.) 

352. We have now a wire from the northeast corner of the 
cabinet to the north side of the room, parallel to the west side of 
the room, distant from the west wall 2-J feet and 2-J feet above 
the floor ; we hang a curtain over this wire, which extends to the 
floor and from the cabinet to the north wall of the room, 7 feet. 
Here is a space, 2| by 7 feet and 2-J feet deep, from the floor to 
the wire. We name this enclosure "the arena." The writing- 
desk is placed in the north end of this arena. (1170.) 

353. The space from the north side of the cabinet to the 
writing desk is 5 feet. In the space of this arena, between the 
north side of the cabinet and the writing-table, is the position 
of a materialization when referred to as being in the arena. The 
reader will also bear in mind that the north side of the cabinet 
is solid wood, and has no door nor opening into the arena. The 
only door or opening into and out of the cabinet is on the east 
side of the cabinet. 

354. From this time on the most of the writing, oration, 
and general materialization is done in this arena. Of course 
only so much of the materialization as extends above the arena 
wire (2^ feet from the floor) is visible to the members of the 
circle, except when the arena curtain may be drawn aside to 
exhibit a full form or for some other purpose as a test. 

355. In the arena, on this occasion, were some illuminated 
forms, at one time three at once — a child, a man, and a woman. 
This was a very satisfactory result to the circle, who knew every- 
thing about the conditions and the impossibility of deception, 
collusion, or delusion. 

356. At a seance, April 2, 1891, Prof. Denton stood forth 
in the arena and made one of his old-time scathing arraignments 



BENDING THE VAIL. 73 

of sacerdotalism, as "the great red dragon of the earth and truly, 
though horribly masculine, yet the very mother of harlots." 

(a) He said: "Higher intelligences of the spirit world 
have determined that this great enemy of the human race must 
go, must get out of the way of human progress. 

(b) "It is true that 'the priesthood will get their just re- 
wards; that they build for themselves their own hells. But oh, 
the pity of the angel world for their ignorant victims:" 

357. When Denton was gone, one stood in the cabinet door 
who said he w T as a Catholic priest while in the mortal. He 
looked all bowed with sorrow and deep anguish — began to totter 
and go down, down, down; finally the body was gone down and 
the head (of the Roman priesthood) faded away. 

358. Instantly there stood Martin Luther in the exact spot 
where the priest's head had vanished. This spirit, looking stead- 
fastly at the writing-desk, retreated backwards into the cabinet. 

359. Then that embodiment of human rights and liberty 
of soul, Thomas Paine, stood in the arena, saying: "Mr. Secre- 
tary, please stand up here in front of me." 

So the secretary, standing near to the spirit, said: "I am 
glad to be so highly honored. I see that you are the person 
represented by that photograph." (The secretary had previou sly 
set for a picture, and on the same plate was developed the like- 
ness of Lincoln and Paine.) 

The spirit said: "Yes, sir; I materialized there. I am 
often around you. Do you notice that you and I are of about 
equal height?" (2308.) 

Secretary: "It seems that w T e are." 

The spirit: "Please say to that gentleman* that I am no 
Catholic priest. I never was any kind of a Catholic in religion. 
I am the original Thomas Paine. I now discern more clearly 
than ever before the far-reaching effects of the doctrines of the 
Romish Church, keeping its poor deluded adherents in the low, 
dark valley of blinded ignorance away over into spirit lift 1 , where 
the beautiful light of heaven shines on sightless eyes, the sweet- 
est strains of enrapturing music falls on deaf ears, and the touch 
of sympathetic fingers meets no response. But the priest, in 
sorrow and sadness, beholds these wretched souls along the 
shores of eternity as being the result of his bestiality and as- 
sumed spiritual and temporal dictatorship, as the vicar of some 
murdered God." 

360. Mr. Paine's speaking is loud, clear, musical, earnest, 
and eloquent, as we may imagine it to have been in the mortal. 
Part of the design of the spirit in thus speaking is to show his 
identity, it having been alleged by the medium of the Faraday 
pamphlets that wmile this spirit might be Payne, it is not Paine 

*Mr. T. C. Buddington. 



74 RENDING THE VAIL. 

of our Revolutionary fame, but one certain Catholic priest, mis- 
chievously palming himself upon us as the veritable Thomas 
Paine. This is what the spirit refers to at the beginning of this 
talk. 

361. Then one arose (1151) in the arena whom we did not 
recognize, but who talked to us in a very familiar way, saying: 
"I am Eobert Dale Owen." This spirit was not quite so tall as 
Paine. He was very pleasant and suave in his speech. He 
stepped to the writing-desk, unlocked it, and took therefrom a 
tablet and wrote, tore the leaf from the tablet, and handed the 
leaf to the secretary — the whole process in sight of the circle — 
and this is the writing: 

362. "You are seeking flight. You are reconnoiteriug from 
the farthest promontory of science, if so be that through the 
haze you may discern the outline of a distant coast and come 
to the possibility of landing. 

"But it may be replied: 'This is not open to anyone hand- 
ling the question of immortality from your side of science — to 
remain neutral as to the question of fact.' 

"If you wish me to continue with this, state it. 

(Signed) "i?. D. Owen." 

Seance No. 36. 

April 5, 1891. 

363. At the beginning of the seance, but before the medium 
entered the cabinet for phenomena, the secretary read the 
minutes of the proceedings of seance No. 35 and of the two 
special seances following. These minutes were all fully ap- 
proved by the circle. 

364. When the medium entered the cabinet, Prof. Denton 
stepped out of the cabinet and reviewed the minutes, saying: 
"Mr. Secretary, you have me reported as I intended on electricity, 
blood circulation, nebula?, and cosmic motion. I do not see that 
I would have any amendments to your minutes as read this 
evening. 

365. "Friends, the soul never leaves the body but once — 
never is entirely separated from the body but once; then never 
returns to animate it again. 

366. "The soul is the great factor of the being." 

367. The reader might here be reminded that the word 
"soul," as used by the decarnates in these seances, designates 
the entire spiritual being — that is separated from the physical 
body, or born out of the physical body into spirit life, in the 
transition commonly called death. 

(a) Moreover, that our life here is, in reality, spirit life; 
yet the phrase "spirit life," for want of a better phrase, is used 
to express the state, or states, or condition, of the decarnate 
existence, or the after-death condition. 



RENDING THE VAIL. ^5 

368. At this seance, Mary House and a little child, both 
at the same time, appeared in the arena. 

3(>9. Then three forms at the same time are distinctly seen 
there by the circle. 

370. Next four forms arose and appeared at the same time 
in the arena — one of them an old man, one a lady form, and two 
children standing between the man and woman forms. 

371. On this occasion, at request of control, the writing- 
desk was placed out of the arena and near to the cabinet door, 
whereupon spirit Keed stepped out to the desk and made his 
writing No. 29, in two parts. (1396-1402.) 

372. Denton then made his writing No. 19. (1705.) 

Special Seance No. 36\. 

April 7, 1891. 

373. Dr. Reed made his best effort and success, so far, at 
vocalization. He asked for a subject, and we announced "Chem- 
istry." The spirit then proceeded in good oral speech, thus: 

374. "Chemistry is a great and versatile study to him who 
is mentally inclined to derive a knowledge of its wonderful laws. 

375. "Chemistry, properly speaking, has but one law — that 
governing what is called chemical affinity. 

(a) "Of course it is generally understood that chemistry 
treats concerning elements and their compounds. 

(b) "It was once thought there are seven elements only: 
air, water, fire, etc. 

(c) "It was finally learned, however, that none of them are 
elements; but that they are compounds, or results of com 
pounding. 

376. "Electricity and magnetism, as known to higher life, 
may not be elements. 

377. "Even the atom, as understood by your scientists, may 
be a. compound of electricity and magnetism — the male and 
female elements. 

378. "These two may ultimately be found to be the only 
elements in what is understood as the material universe. 

379. "Then we may properly say the law by which the 
various degrees of combinations of these two, in all their won- 
derful multifariousness, is indeed the great law of the univers< — 
matter, spirit, substance. 

380. "There is no solid substance — everything lias life. 
That chair has life. 

381. "Everything that has life is pervaded by the spiritual 
and manifests life according to the prevalence of* the spiritual." 

382. Prof. Denton, an exceptionally fine materialization, 
then stood forth at the chair, about two feet outside the cabinet 
door, and asked for a topic. "Photography" being announced, 



76 RENDING THE TAIL. 

he spoke in a very loud, clear oral voice, as though addressing 
a large audience, making his oration No. 7. (2010.) 

383. After Denton's great oration, Warren Chase stood 
forth to our view and vocalized quite clearly, saying: "I am 
still working here on this side for the enlightenment of the 
human race, and may continue indefinitely. 

(a) "Mr. Secretary, please announce for me a subject." 

(b) Secretary: "Phrenology." 

(c) Chase: "That was not my field while in the mortal, 
but there is one here who made it his life study; I will stand aside 
while he will speak to the subject." 

384. As Chase retired there arose in his stead in the cabinet 
doorway one whom we recognized as O. S. Fowler, having seen 
him and heard him lecture before his transition, and having be- 
fore seen the same materialization here, who spoke very like in 
his earthly speech and manner, excepting that his delivery is 
much more rapid now than of yore. On this occasion he spoke sub- 
stantially thus: 

385. "I gave the subject of phrenology my attention and 
study for a great number of years; and, in my delineations of 
character, was generally correct. I will endeavor now to make 
you a brief speech, but must talk rapidly, as I cannot hold this 
form visible for a great while. 

386. "'You may be astonished at the assertion, but I have 
learned that there is much truth in astrology, and that therefore 
phrenology and astrology go hand in hand. 

387. "Astral and planetary conjunctive nodes, together 
with the passage of your planet through and into interstellar 
fields of electricity and magnetism, or electro-magnetism, pro- 
duce certain electrical disturbances about and within your planet, 
causing or assisting to intensify earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, 
atmospheric storms, cyclones, etc., thus modifying antenatal 
conditions. 

388. "Hence a gestation during such natural cataclysms 
will produce a more explosive, destructive, combative disposition, 
while the antithesis of these conditions all along the line will 
modify into a peaceable, docile, sympathetic nature. 

389. "Again, there are facial marks indicating cerebral 
developments. 

"Physiognomy, then, may be resorted to, to assist in deter- 
mining individual character." 

390. Secretary: "Well, Professor, is there such a fact as 
that the science of phrenology may be so systematized that by 
mere intellectual effort a person may delineate character truly 
from mere inspection of the entire physique by what we may 
call relativity of organs, temperaments, etc.; or, after all, is it 
not true that the good delineator is one whose soul mingles in 



RENDING THE VAIL. 77 

sympathy with the spirit of the subject, or has, in some way, 
assistance from some outside intelligence?'' 

391. Fowler: "Yes, sir; the old phrenological method, 
while true in principle as far as it goes, is being abandoned, and 
psychometry or the psychometric method is being used, which 
is the real and true method of success in delineation." 

392. The spirit, being unable to longer hold the form, faded 
away to some condition out of our vision. 

393. Then that "ancient of days," Father King, for the hist 
time in a long while, stood forth and took the trumpet, and, as is 
his custom, spoke to us through it in his familiar salutation: 
"Good-evening, friends. I 'm glad to meet you again. Mr. Secre 
taiy, please give me a subject." 

Secretary: "That supposed sunken continent south of 
Africa, Lamura." 

394. King: "Yes, sir. I some time ago wrote you that 
such a continent once was above the sea, and went down before 
Atlantis. 

395. "Lamura was a country — or planet, if you please — 
which was the land of my nativity. I was not a small man, as 
some have supposed. I weighed about 180 pounds, was about 
your size. That continent was much nicer than Atlantis; was 
very much like your continent — the same diversities of politics 
and religions, very much the same language as yours. I was 
looked upon as a little god, a 'Lord Jesus Christ,' but I was <ml\ 
a man." 

396. It will be remembered that Father King has been 
asked, heretofore, whereabouts on earth was his birthplace, and, 
except to say, "I am from another planet," never answered until 
now. 

397. But elsewhere he and other spirits have told us that 
they sometimes visit and make temporary abode on other plan- 
ets, nnd then, on return to earth, they answer: "From another 
planet." 

398. Sam put in appearance, and in mischievous — or rather, 
innocent, mirthful colloquy, then said: "I guess T can make a 
speech too. When the breath is cast out, is gone, all is gone. 
You better give me a subject. I don't want to be entirely left. 
Those 'pig pugs' here want to hog the ring." 

399. Secretary: "Meteors, meteorites." 

Sam: "Oh ya; dem shootin'-stars vot shoots across the sky. 
They are lava. The various planets cast off, by force of internal 
disturbances, certain amounts of land to a point where the frag- 
ments enter the attractive influence of your earth and are drawn 
thereby into your atmosphere with great velocity and are fired, 
and some of them are burned up and some reach the earth and 
you call them aerolites. 

6 



78 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

"The planets keep their equilibrium by mutual lava 
exchange. 

"When the earth is not in equilibrium, volcanic eruptions 
and earthquakes ensue, by which lava is projected to other 
planets, especially to Venus. 

"There is more exchange of the earth with Venus than with 
any other." 

400. Sam is here giving theory as held heretofore by some 
scientists, and in part by most scientists to-day: to show that 
Sam can make connected speech and call into criticism theories 
that scientists entertain, and to show that he is cognizant of 
scientific theories. 

Special Seance No. 36%. 

March 9, 1891. 

401. J. H. and Mrs. Walser being with us. 

More about Conditions and Materializations. 
Spirit Dr. Cutter, for Mrs. Walser, stood forth and said: 
"I was just waiting for some one to speak. You will suc- 
ceed with your school. 

"This reminds me of Belteshazzar's feast. You cannot pic- 
ture the beauty of our life. Could you confine the emanations 
of your bodies — your physical forms — into concentration and 
connection, you would be astonished at the results. These 
emanations, sometimes called odic force, we are able to utilize to 
produce phenomena." 

402. Spirit Denton, following, said, substantially: 

"If that electricity could be confined, it would enable you 
to more clearly discern the structure of your bodies. 

"The millions and millions of little molecules would make 
a wonderful revelation to you. Dr. Keed has made that a study 
and came very near accomplishing some wonderful results, by 
this confinement, with this medium at Topeka, and hopes to come 
nearer or altogether to success here. 

403. "We need a very tight cabinet for holding the emana- 
tions and molding them into form; and, if we had such, would 
give you more wonderful results than as yet attained. 

"So we w r ould be glad to have you prepare us such a one 
suitable to our purpose." 

404. Sam then said: "If you put a wire here and one there, 
so as to connect both extremities of circle with cabinet, forming 
an electric current, we could feel the current. This current 
passes from right to left and from left of circle onto medium. 

405. "For that reason they choose the most suitable person 
for the left, and so arrange positive and negative alternately in 
the circle; and they impress the medium to seat the circle as 
much in that way as possible." (1170.) 



RENDiya THE VAIL. 79 

Seance No. 37. 

April 12, 1891. 

406. At this seance Thomas Paine made up and stood forth 
in the arena, a magnificent form, and then and there, with wonder- 
ful vocalization, in good, round, smooth oral speech, gave to us 
his oration No. 5. (2349.) 

407. As Paine retired our cabinet control, Sam, appeared 
in the arena, saving: "It seems I am made of putty." He moved 
about all over the space of the arena very lively, talking clown 
ishly with several members of the circle; then suddenly he called: 
"Fritzie, O Fritzie, come here; come here, Fritzie; come right 
along here. Oh, you leedle veller, vas you so glad ve cooni?" 

As Sam pronounced the word "coom" there became visible 
a little bov form standing beside Sam, that Sam calls his son 
Fritz. 

Sam kept on talking, "Dot isn all vright, all vright, all 
vright," and began to dematerialize downwards, still saying, "All 
vright, all vright," as the head reached the floor, seeming by the 
voice to move on the floor tow 7 ard the cabinet to the cabinet door, 
where the top of the head again became visible, but the words 
"All vright" of muffled sound, as though the mouth were below 
the floor. But the head rises, we see the eyes now just above the 
floor, now the mouth above the floor, uttering the words "All 
vright," quickly ascending to full height with a mirthful grin, 
"Dot ish all vright." Then it descends through the floor, out of 
sight, and Fritzie vanishes from our view. 

408. Dr. Reed rose in the arena, at the writing-desk, took 
from the desk a tablet, and wrote very swiftly. 

Mr. Walser had been requested to watch for writing and note 
the time by his pulse, which he says he did, and found the time 
of the writing to be 13 pulse-beats; the number of words we 
found to be 167; the pulse was running about 70; this shows 
the rate of 800 w T ords per minute. This writing is No. 29, and 
continues the theme of "Compound Oxygen." (1396-1402.) 

409. When Reed had finished his writing, Denton stood in 
the arena at the desk, took in his left hand the tablet, faced the 
circle squarely, and spoke in a loud, clear, oratorical tone, with 
an eloquence certainly up to that of his best efforts on the ros- 
trum while in the mortal, making his oration No. Q . (2025-2036.) 

410. And his writing No. 20. (1714.) 

411. Warren Chase, on being recognized, said: 

"I feel better. All of us feel better to be recognized by our 
friends. 

"Governments, the best of them, as now existing on earth, 
are general humbugs. 

(a) "Until there comes a free civilization, there will be noth- 
ing much better. 

(b) "The government gets money out of poor peoph — the 



80 RENDING THE JAIL. 

laboring people. The vast treasures laid away is the very life 
of the toiling millions — ttteir muscle, brain, and sinew.* 

(c) '-This, you say, is the proxy in the hands of the people. 

(d) "No, friends, no. It is in the clutches of government- 
created monopolies, that 'toil not nor spin.' 

(e) "While the children of the man that dug the treasures 
out of the earth suffer with cold, hunger, rags, starvation. No 
civilization about it. 

(/) "The bounties of Nature are more economically distrib- 
uted among the wild tribes of oceanic isles than on the face of 
civilized continents." 

412. Then U. S. Grant stood out in very good individuality, 
and, speaking in a low but distinct oral voice, said: 

"I fought a great deal for good government, as I thought, 
but was mistaken. I tried to be opposed to every form of 
monarchy; and, if I could have had my way, I would have had the 
war make the Northern white man as free as it made the South- 
ern black man, and would have had them both freer than either 
now is. But I was only a man. The President of the United 
States is not President of the people. He is the servant of 
capital, to make the wage-slave fetters more galling. I was in 
the minority. The influence of capital over the people is to the 
effect that capital is, and ought to be, God. So the people 
demanded their fetters, and I was compelled to fasten them on. 

418. "When the time comes that the people get tired of 
being fettered slaves to merciless financial masters, I '11 have 
my army stationed all along the line, ready for action; and, at 
command of Paine and Jefferson and Washington and Lincoln, 
with a Sherman and Sheridan flanking, will capture the citadel 
of Mammon and place his scepter where it belongs — upon the 
people's heads." 

414. And then Gen. Sherman stood forth, his own self 
completely, saying, in good oral speech: 

"I am here to second my good brother Grant in his proposed 
good work. 

415. "But the ignorance and prejudice of the people, 
through long training to the necessity of centralization of both 
church and state, will be hard and long to overcome. 

416. "But eternity is before us, and evolution, the all-con- 
quering God. 

417. "I was a Spiritualist on earth, but so held by environ- 
ing chains that I was a cringing slave. 

^Paragraph 411 b was originally uttered as now inserted, but when the secretary had 
so reported this minute to the next seance, he asked the controls whether to make the 
word "treasures" treasure, or to change the word "is" to are. The control. Dr. Reed, 
replied, saying: "Neither one. Life is both the logical and grammatical subject, as you 
will see by paraphrashing thus : The very life of the toiling millions, expended through 
muscle, brain, and sinew, is converted into, and is laid away as, the vast treasures of the 
government and of government-created monopolies." (411 d.) 

Then the spirit asked: "What does the pronoun 'it' (411 d). personify?" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 81 

(a) "But I am free, now, to work for my own, and to work 
for the redemption from bondage of earth's millions who know 
not of their own slavery." 

418. E. V. Wilson, on psychometry, says: "It is a special 
faculty, to be cultivated as any other faculty; but, like any other 
faculty, may be small. In fact, it is one of the higher faculties, 
and is just reaching a point of general development along the 
line of evolution." 



Seance No. 38. 

April 16, 1891. 

419. Beginning of photographic portrait negatives without 
the camera. Before the circle was seated for phenomena, the 
secretary* observed to those present that, in his opinion, the photo- 
graphic spirit artists could and likely would produce the nega- 
tive just as w r ell if the medium held the plate-holder in his hand 
or came in contact with it in any way as though the holder were 
placed in the camera. 

So soon as the circle sat, spirit Reed appeared in full form 
in the cabinet door and talked of the proposed experiment; he 
said that it was a good idea, and would, beyond question in his 
mind, be a success. Then the spirit gave instructions how to 
envelop the plate from light while the slide w r as drawn, and 
advised us to try it at the earliest opportunity. 

420. The next day we began such experiments, and found, 
from the first, that no camera is needed for spirit artists to pro- 
duce a sensitive plate negative of any design they may choose. 
This conclusion is reached in virtue of more than one hundred 
successful experiments in this phase of spirit art. But since 
that time many others have verified our experiments, so that we 
deem it unnecessary to here pursue the subject farther. 

421. Prof. Denton at this seance discussed a series of scien- 
tific questions, the whole matter of which the reader will find 
under the head of "Denton's Orations," and numbered Oration 9. 
(2037-2054.) 

422. Then Thomas Paine, to the question, ''Is there a God?" 
made his oration No. 6. (2356.) 

423. Father King again took the trumpet, and gave his 
second trumpet oration. (2753-2758.) 

424. While Denton was speaking and answering thus,- 
questions, he was also writing, having in hand a tablet therefor, 
and he called our attention to this fact, and desired ns to notice 
that the writing was altogether different matter from his talk; 
and this writing constitutes his No. 21. (1724.) 



82 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Seance No. 39. 

April 19, 1891. 

425. Five visitors from Topeka, Kas., were present. After 
many astounding evidences of identity of the departed friends 
of the visitors, to their satisfaction and great joy, our scientific 
band, led by Prof. Denton, stood forth, one at a time, to our 
vision and hearing. 

426. Denton, having heretofore been dubbed as not the 
real Prof. William Denton, but merely a "spiritual automaton" 
made up by the controls for the occasion, gave us to understand 
that this "automaton" can talk and seems imbued with more 
than ordinary intelligence. 

427. That if the control can set up an automaton and talk 
through it, why not any spirit, or Prof. Denton, set up an autom 
aton and talk to people through it? 

428. Then again, any person in the mortal form, so far as 
the physical body is concerned, is a spiritual automaton, the 
body being but a machine manufactured by the spirit for the use 
of the spirit, and is moved about as the indwelling spirit moves 
it. In this way and sense we may admit that the materializa- 
tions, so far as their visibility and manifestations of force are 
concerned, are automatons. 

But we are satisfied to call these materializations what they 
claim to be. 

429. So this automaton, Prof. Win. Denton, still standing 
forth, makes in our hearing his oration No. 10. (2055.) 

430. At the close of Denton's remarks, Thomas Paine arose 
in the arena north of the cabinet and in his usual eloquent tones 
addressed us: "Good-evening, friends. I am glad to see this 
interest on your part in our glorious work. Mr. Secretary, where 
are your questions?" 

Secretary: "I did not get them out of the box. Can you 
not read them there, and answer them?" 

Paine: "You should have them and read them yourself." 

Secretary: "Shall I go now and get them?" 

Paine: "No, sir; I will get them myself." 

(The spirit goes to the desk, takes the papers out, and hands 
them to Mr. Clark, saying to him: "Will you please take these 
papers over there to the secretary?" Mr. Clark takes the papers 
over to the secretary and returns to his seat near where the 
spirit is standing, and as Mr. Clark sits down Paine says to him: 
"Very much obliged to you, sir, for your kindness.") 

The spirit then said: "Read the next question on the 
programme." 

Secretary: "17. What is the highest religion?" 

Upon this question of Mr. Walser, Paine makes his oration 
No. 7, answering the Walser series of questions from 17 to 29 
when not previously answered. (2369.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 83 

-131. After Paine had spoken and vanished, Dr. Heed arose 
in the arena at the desk and made his writing No. 30. (1403- 
1405.) 

432. Reed is followed bv Denton, who makes his writing 
No. 22. (1732.) 

433. Then Prof. Faraday made his writing- No. 15. (2641.) 

434. These three writings were timed, as near as possible, 
by our pendulum suspended from the ceiling; the vibrations, as 
before stated, are plainly to be seen and counted by all the circle. 

The spirit, while writing, stands at the desk, in view of the 
entire circle, and does the writing while so standing; and as each 
leaf is written, the spirit tears it from the tablet and lays it on 
the desk lid, sometimes places it in the desk, sometimes lets the 
leaf so written upon fall on the floor, and sometimes hands the 
leaf to some one of the circle. 

(a) So that, seeing the beginning and the ending of the 
writing of each leaf and counting the vibrations of our pendulum 
between, we have the time in seconds as near as may be; and 
afterward counting the words, we have the rate of writing. 

(b) In this instance spirit Reed's time Avas 30 seconds. 155 
words; a rate of 310 words per minute. Denton's time was 
27 seconds, 200 words; a rate of 420 words per minute. Fara- 
day's time was 9 seconds, 115 words; a rate of 766 words per 
minute. 

435. But some man will say that this is a job previously 
prepared by the medium, and these writings copied by him from 
some scientific or other book, and that he stands there and pre- 
tends to be writing and to tear from the tablet. 

436. First, we know, from every kind of exercise of all our 
perceptions, that it is not the medium standing there before us. 

437. We sometimes are permitted to stand near to the 
spirit while it is writing and see the words as they are formed 
on the paper. 

438. Sometimes we hand to the spirit a clean tablet and 
he opens the one we hand to him, he writes in that tablet, tears 
the leaf out, and gives to us the leaf and the tablet. 

439. The tablets upon which the writing is done an 4 all of 
them furnished by us, and we examine them each evening before 
the seance, and find them clean of writing. 

440. Sometimes the same spirit, while standing before us. 
will write his essay, consisting of several pages, each page on a 
leaf of a different tablet, using at the same writing four or live 
different tablets; and he will tear the leaves all out of the differ 
ent tablets and lay them down, and all the tablets he has used, 
and vanish; then another spirit will arise in his stead at tin- 
desk, and write in the same tablets the one just before had 
written in; and so on until four or five different spirits hav< 
written and left the papers and tablets on the desk. We ex- 



S4 RENDIXG THE VAIL. 

amine them, and find all to be the same tablets and leaves out 
of them that we know we locked up in the desk just as the 
seance began. 

441. At an adjourned meeting of this seance, April 21, 1891, 
Thomas Paine continued, in answer to the question of hell and 
the deductions of the whole series of G. H. Walser's questions, 
making his oration No. 8. (2384-2395.) 

442. When Paine had spoken and vanished, Dr. Reed arose 
in the arena and asked for a subject. Mr. Lamb, of Parsons, 
Kas., suggested "Spirit Architecture." 

Dr. Reed said, "That is a good subject," and continued: 
"Many of your finest buildings and other mechanical structures 
are projections into material form from similar structures over 
here. Spirit architects there are, who construct ethereal palaces 
adorned with architectural beauty and grandeur beyond the 
power of human speech to describe or the human mind in the 
mortal to discern. Far, far transcending all beauties of the 
highest art of your earth. 

443. "That your loved ones gone before prepare for you 
homes of beauty such as you never dreamed is no idle fancy. 
When you go, you go to also prepare a place for your loved ones 
coming after." 

Seance No. 40. 

April 24, 1891. 

444. At this seance several very remarkable materializa- 
tions were presented to us; one, especially, which we recognized 
as Thomas Paine. This form arose in the arena north of the 
cabinet. 

445. The reader will remember that the north wall of the 
cabinet is between the cabinet and the arena, and that there is 
no door or opening in this north wall of the cabinet, neither is 
there any opening into the arena through the west wall thereof, 
nor the north wall, nor the floor, nor the ceiling; and that no 
person, during the seance, could get into the arena, nor under 
that curtain, nor through it, without being seen by the entire 
circle. We know that the medium is in the cabinet, and that no 
mortal is in the arena. But, under all these conditions, a form 
slowly arose in the arena, which we recognized as a temporary 
reincarnation of the spirit Thomas Paine. 

And this Thomas Paine, finding a voice, asked for a subject 
on which he might speak, and the secretary said: "Will you 
please pass to me from the desk the Walser list of questions, and 
let us finish them up?" 

Spirit: "I will try, sir." 

446. The spirit stepped to the desk, which was at the north 
end of the arena, and some six feet from the cabinet, the spirit 



RENDING THE VAIL. gjj 

being between the desk and the cabinet. The spirit then took 
from the question-box, which was in the desk, the list of said 
questions, backed to near the cabinet, stooped down, raised the 
curtain that hangs on the wire forming the eastern boundary of 
the arena, crawled under the curtain, then straightened up, 
standing between us and the curtain, then walked to the secre- 
tary at the southeast corner of the room, and gave the secretary 
that list of questions; then he went into the cabinet at the cabinet 
door, and immediately we beheld him arise as from the floor in 
the arena at the writing-desk; then he said: "Here I am. Now 
please read the next question." 

Question 31: "Will man cease to exist on this earth?'' 

Answer: "No. Man has always existed and will exist 
always." This answer is as though the question were: "Will 
man's existence terminate with that of the earth?" 

Question 32: "Does animal life exist on the moon?" 

Answer: "Yes; but in a very crude form." 

Question 33 (by Henry Lamb): "What about vegetation in 
spirit life?" 

Answer: "Oh, yes; w T e have every vegetable that you have; 
and 'fruits immortal grow' is no idle fancy, but a more glorious 
realization than any you ever experienced on earth. 

447. "Do you know that everything organic has its soul 
or spirit? That is what we have here — the soul, the spirit, the 
essence of the apple, the peach, and every manner of vegetable 
production of earth. 

448. "But the deliciousness, to us, of all these fruits 
transcends all possible conceptions of mortals, and you cannot, 
you never will know anything about 'ambrosial' delights until 
you pass to these Elysian gardens. 

449. "The souls of men, and women, and children, and 
beasts, and birds, and flowers, and fruits, and trees, adorning 
electro-magnetic hills, and dales, and banks of electric streams. 
Oh the glory of our homes! Unspeakable — incomprehensible to 
you. And when you first enter these celestial gardens, you '11 
only wish you had been here fifty years ago." 

Question 34: "Government?" 

Answer: "Answered heretofore." 

Question 35: "How is spirit writing done?" 

Answer: "It is a mode of motion produced by the thoughts. 

or, rather, the will." 

Question: "Why can spirits manifest in the dark and net 

in the light?" 

450. Spirit: "That certainly would be a foolish question 
for a scientific person to ask. The scientific man talks about the 
beginning of the manifestation of life. I might ask: -Why is 
this all in the dark?' Your own gestation is in the dark. The 
working together of life protoplasm is in the dark. That kind of 



86 RENDING THE VAIL. 

chemistry that produces life-manifestation does its work in the 
dark. You hide the grain of corn away in the darkness as one 
condition essential to germination. Your tomato ripens in the 
dark. Why does your artist have to keep his photographic plate 
and some of his chemicals in the dark? Why is it that he can 
admit none but red light to his room while in his preparation and 
developing process? Certain chemical processes must be in the 
dark; this every scientist knows. 

457. "Spirit manifestations are chemical, and of a finer 
grade of chemistry than any scientist of earth knows anything 
about, and light interferes with its perfect work in a greater 
degree than it does with the manipulating of the sensitive plate." 

Question 37: "Modes of spirit locomotion?" 

Answer: "Answered before." 

Questions 38, 39, 40: "As to marriage relation in spirit life." 

Answer: "Heretofore answered, but will say now: 

452. "There is but one true marriage; and, when once 
formed, is never sundered. It is a natural and harmonious 
union. I want to say here that we have no 'free love' — that is, 
no promiscuity; promiscuous sensuality in the higher life is not 
advocated here, and belongs only to a low and sensual plane." 

The spirit vanishes from our sight without having touched 
upon the last question of the Walser series, to-wit, "Origin of 
the Christian Philosophy," but the reader will find this amply 
answered elsewhere. (20G6.) 



Seance No. 41. 

April 26, 1891. 

453. Spirit E. K. Coffin, in very brilliant make-up, engaged 
in a lively and jovial conversation with one of the circle con- 
cerning the social enjoyment of spirits, saying: "We meet and 
have socials same as you do. We converse in a good, whole- 
souled, old-fashioned, harmonious way. We talk of our future 
prospects, of our past experiences, of how we can help our friends 
on earth to get out of the old ruts; and we feel amused when 
one of your saints gets over here, for he immediately goes to 
hunting for his 'Joshua,' and he calls for Joshua, but Joshua 
never comes. And a great many of us in pity for the poor 
fellows who have never had a square meal of living bread in all 
their lives, but have fed only on theological dry husks." 

454. Coffin vanished, and Dr. Reed arose in the arena, 
opened the desk, examined the tablets, and said: "These are 
nice tablets [we had just placed some new tablets in the desk], 
very nice indeed. I am much pleased with them, and will now 
try to write some." 

(a) The spirit then took one tablet in his left hand and 
faced the circle. The secretary stood at his pendulum, and 



RENDING THL VAIL. $7 

started it going. The Doctor counted, "One, two, three," and 
at the sound "Three" began writing. The secretary began count- 
ing aloud the pendulum vibrations as the spirit said "Three," 
and counted aloud eighteen pendulum beats. At the word 
''Eighteen," the spirit tore the leaf upon which he was writing 
from the tablet, wrote a few words upon another leaf, tore it 
from the tablet, and handed the two leaves to the secretary, say 
ing: "Examine those leaves at vour light." This the secretary 
did. 

Spirit: "Yes, sir." (1400-1408.) 

The spirit then laid the tablet on the desk and went down. 

455. As Reed went down, Denton arose, saying to Reed, 
"You did not correct jour papers," and descended. As Denton 
went down, Reed reascended, saying: "Mr. Secretary, let me 
have those papers and correct them. I think I made a mistake 
or two." 

The secretary handed the papers to the spirit, who, without 
moving from his place, took the papers and looked them over 
as any person would in search of errors, made two or three 
erasures and insertions of other words instead, and handed the 
papers back to the secretary, saying: "That is all now. You 
may be seated." 

456. This record should state, because a fact, that before 
Denton spoke to Reed about his mistakes, Denton wrote a few 
lines, and gave to Reed as Reed was reascending, and Reed 
handed Denton's paper, together with his own, to the secretary. 
This writing is Reed's No. 31, and this of Denton's numbered 23, 
being a definition of mind. (1738.) 

457. Then Prof. Faraday arose in the arena at 'the desk 
and took up one of the 9-inch, 24-line tablets, saying, "One, two, 
three." At the word "Three" he began to write, and the secre- 
tary to count pendulum vibrations, until the spirit tore a leaf 
out; 20 seconds, 141 words, making 7 words per second. This 
is Faraday's w T riting No. 16. (2647.) 

458. ' When Faraday had written and gone, the "ancient of 
days," Father King, arose and made his writing No. 11. (2744.) 
The time of this writing was 10 seconds; 131 w r ords; a rate of 786 
words per minute. 

459. At this seance the rate of writing was not so great 
as on some former occasions, but the writing was better executed. 
The rate of 476 words to the minute, as per Reed, is a marvelous 
speed; while 786 words per minute, as that of King, is beyond 
present human conception — more than three times as fast as a 
rapid speaker will utter words. 

460. These three writers on this occasion averaged the rate 
of 523 words a minute. The three writers together mad.- 415 
words in 48 seconds. But in King's writing are a number of 
long words; King making 212 syllables in 10 secr.nds. eqnal to 



88 RENDING THE TAIL. 

the rate of 1272 syllables in 1 minute. King's writing contains 
624 letters, which would make his rate of letters 3744 in 1 minute. 
Then, besides this, there are 15 punctuation marks. The 3744 
letters required at least 3 letter principles to each letter, which 
makes 11,232 letter principles in a minute, or nearly 200 in a 
single second. 

If there has ever been any higher scientific demonstration 
of the fact of continued existence for man beyond the tomb than 
this phase of visible full-form materializations writing five-fold 
more rapidly than mortal man can write, and this in fairly good 
English, orthography, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and 
paragraphing, this scribe has failed to get into possession of that 
fact. 

461. At the conclusion of King's writing, Prof. Denton 
asked for a subject, and "Cause of Variation of the Magnetic 
Needle" was announced. (See 2057; see Denton's speech No. 11.) 

462. As Denton closed his speech and went down, Thomas 
Paine arose and stood forth in the arena, appearing as much an 
individual human orator as ever he could have done while in 
the mortal, saying his oration No. 8. (2384-2395.) 

Seance No. 42. 

April 28, 1891. 

463. When Prof. Denton arose and had made remarks in 
a social way, he finally asked for a subject. Mr. House an- 
nounced "Unconscious Cerebratiou," upon which this spirit made 
his oration No. 12. (2061.) 

464. At Denton's conclusion, there arose in the arena two 
small children together, a boy and girl; they stood a moment 
and vanished. 

465. Immediately three children stood side by side in the 
arena, their heads reaching just above the wire upon which the 
drapery hangs between the arena and the circle. These three 
children were recognized by their kindred in the circle. After 
these, there arose two adult spirit forms at the same time. 

466. Then that most marvelous of all materialization vocal- 
izers, Thomas Paine, stood up in the arena, and in his earnest 
and eloquent manner made to us his oration No. 9. (2396.) 

467. When Paine had finished talking and was gone, there 
appeared one in the arena having a very sorrowful mood, and 
said: "I died almost broken-hearted, alone, without friends!" 
Some suggested that this was Payne, author of "Home, Sweet 
Home." The spirit said: "Yes, that is it." 

Seance No. Jf3. 

April 30, 1891. 

468. Thomas Paine was the principal figure of this evening, 
making his oration No. 10. (2399.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. $9 

Seance No. 44- 

May 3, 1801. 

169. This seance presented to us thirty materializations, 
mostly female forms; these were of various sizes, from little girls 
to full adult size/and were clad in as many as one dozen different 
styles of dress, with hair put up in different styles, and the ap- 
pearances were often in exceedingly quick succession; and, at 
one time, three stood together, of different sizes and habiliment. 

470. At length Dr. Reed stood forth at the writing-desk, 
unlocked it, took out several tablets, and examined them, saying: 
"Mr. Secretary, you did not examine these this time as usual, but 
I guess it makes no difference." 

The spirit requested singing, took up the tablet having red 
letters, held it out so that all the circle could see, and counted, 
"One, two, write." At 20 seconds, he tore one leaf out of the 
tablet and gave it to the secretary, saying: "Examine that; sec 
whose handwrite it is." The secretary examined and passed it 
around the circle, and all readily recognized the hand of Reed. 
"Yes, Doctor, that is all right." Then the spirit wrote another 
leaf, tore it out, and gave it to the secretary. As this leaf was 
being examined by the circle the spirit wrote a third page, gave 
it to the secretary, and took up another tablet, wrote in it one 
page, and gave it to the secretary, saying, "That is all now," and 
vanished. 

The entire time of this whole writing was just 1 minute, and 
the number of words written on the four tablet leaves is 465. 
This writing is Reed's No. 32. (1409-1418.) 

471. At the conclusion of Reed's writing, spirit Denton 
arose in the arena, took up one of the wide tablets, and as he 
wrote therein at the same time he talked to us, thus: "I am 
much pleased with the manner of Dr. Reed's writing, it being 
so done as to make it impossible for us to be imposed upon, 
showing the evidence, step by step, and the inevitable conclusion 
that the writing was accomplished by an intelligence beyond 
mortal ken." 

This writing is Denton's No. 24. (1800.) 

472. If the reader will take the pains to look at Denton's 
writing No. 24, and compare the writing with this talk made ai 
the same time of the writing, he will observe that two distinct 
trains of thought are given forth at the same time; the one by 
tongue, the other by pen, and by the same person, which is ;i 
marvel in itself. 

473. When Denton had gone, Thomas Paine arose in the 
arena and made his oration No. 11. (2406.) 



90 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

Seance No. Jf.5. 

May 5, 1891. 
474. Denton arose, saying: "Give roe a subject, please." 
"Origin of the Christian Philosophy" was announced. Upon 
this question Denton made a short address, No. 13. (2066.) 
474^. Then Paine made his wonderful No. 12. (2416.) 
47o. At the conclusion of Paine's address, there arose one 
in the arena who, while a very good make-up, seemed unable to 
vocalize so that we could understand the name. Sam, the col- 
loquial control, cried out: "Give him a slate." Which being 
done, the spirit held the slate about three seconds and handed it 
to the secretary, and the word "Bancroft" was found upon the 
slate. This form vanished; and Sam, speaking in the cabinet, 
said : 

476. "I made you a speech the other night, Mr. Secretary, 
and you never reported one word of it, as though I am 'small 
potatoes.' I '11 let you know I 'm no ignoramus. Don'dt you 
forgot dot. 

"Say, don'dt you know that everything you eat has a life- 
germ in it? You eat the victuals, and the germs of life from the 
rocks that go to food for the plants, that go to food for the horse, 
for the cow, for the sheep, for the lion, for the monkeys, for man, 
all this food has never lost the life-germ from the rocks all the 
way through to your bodies. 

"The life-germ is never destroyed. Cooking does not de- 
stroy it. Fire cannot destroy it. Out of all this the great 
natural — what f you call um, Mr. Secretary? ["Architect."] 
Dot ■ s it, dot 's it. The great laboratory of Nature makes your 
souls that never die. 

"Dot 's all of it in a nutshell, and don'dt you forgot dot. 

477. "Say, if you feed a horse on candy all the time, he no 
liff, he no haff young. If you do not liff on suitable variety of 
food, you do not reproduce your kind for want of proper com- 
bination of life-germs. Dot dat down now, or I get after you 
mit my frow's old skillet. 

478. "After your soul has absorbed from the atoms so much 
of life-germs as necessary for its use, the residue is thrown off 
and finds its way back to the rocks; but the individualized glom- 
eration of life continues on for ever, being perpetually able to 
replace, with suitable substance, any that may become useless 
to the soul's existence. 

479. 'Thus the individual atom moves in circle, or endless 
chain, and is continually being reincarnated; but the individual- 
ized life-force glomeration moves in straight line, and, therefore, 
no return to the rocks, no reincarnation, but perpetual unfold- 
ment." (1160.) 



REX DING THE VAIL. (ji 

Seance No. 46. 

May 10, 1891. 

400. There were eleven or twelve very excellent efforts at 
materialization, most of them having sufficient make-up of vocal 
organs so as to engage in conversation with us. Among them. 
Prof. Denton stood in the cabinet door, talked for a little time 
in a social way, and then asked for a subject, and was given 
"Asteroids." 

491. The spirit said: "That is understood by us to mean 
a special spirit sphere, invisible and unknown to you. It is a 
globe of spirit elements. 

"There are not near so many of those called by astronomers 
'asteroids' as they claim." 

402. Warren Chase was readily recognized by those of us 
who knew him while he was in the mortal. On being asked 
whether or not he could so manifest to the Banner of Light Circle 
as to report having been here, he said the mediums there are 
Aery different from these, but he supposed he would be able to 
personalize there. 

403. Erastus Coffin arose in the arena and was a very 
''familiar spirit" indeed. And this is presented not on account 
of anything of interest that the personality may be to the reader, 
but as an example of the way that hundreds of spirits personify 
themselves to various persons visiting these seances, and to show T 
farther that what we experience here is possible for any person 
to realize at his own home, if he be at the same pains therefor 
as we. 

Well, this spirit, E. K. Coffin, as he was familiarly known, 
talked to the circle in a good jovial way, as he was wont to do 
while in the mortal. Addressing a lady, he said: "Say, do you 
remember that day out at Highland Creek, how I got away with 
that chicken pie?" 

Lady: "Yes, 'Kastus, you preachers always used to be fond 
of chicken." 

Spirit: "Yes; yellow-legged chickens. I find that it was 
sometimes more chicken than religion." 

Then to the secretarv the spirit said: ''Say, Jabez, did you 
know^ Jesse Coffin?" 

Secretary: "What Jesse?" 

Spirit: "I have a son Jesse, you know, but I mean Uncle 
Jesse; he was drowned away down the river. He got up in tin 
night-time, somnambule walking, and walked right off the boat 
into the river." 

Secretary: "Oh, yes. Long time ago?" 

Spirit: "Yes; over sixty years." 

Secretary: "About the time he drowned, what, if anything, 
peculiar was observed at his home in Salem?" 



92 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

Spirit: "A light like a bright star was seen to be moving 
about the house." 

Secretary: "What was that light?" 

Spirit: "His spirit partially materialized." 

Secretary: "What became of his widow?" 

Spirit: "Oh, she married, long after." 

Secretary: "Is John Reyman in mortal or spirit life now?" 

Spirit: "He 's over here with us. The widow of Jesse mar- 
ried him, you know." 

Secretary: "Is she yet in the mortal?" 

Spirit: "I have not yet seen her over here. I guess she 
is not here." 

Secretary: "Was any of your father's family ever drowned?" 

Spirit: "Let me see." (Scratches his head.) "Yes, it seems 
there was." 

Secretary: "Brother or sister?" 

Spirit: "Little sister." 

Secretary: "Her name?" 

Spirit: "I believe it was Mary." 

Secretary: "How did she happen to drown?" 

Spirit : "She fell into a pool of a leather factory." (Tan vat.) 

Secretary: "How long ago?" 

Spirit: "Nearly sixty years." 

Secretary: "All correct, Erastus." 

Spirit: "That's the way we do business over here." 

Here a lady of the circle stepped toward the spirit and he 
toward her until they stood very near together, side by side, so 
that we could all very distinctly see that the spirit and lady were 
nearly or quite of equal height. As they approached each other 
the spirit said: "You are somewhat handsome, aren't you?" 

Here another lay, jesting, said: "Say, 'Rastus, where ? s 
your wife?" 

Spirit: "Oh, she's gone over [got married], you know, so 
I thought I would be looking around a little myself." 

Lady: "Can't I stand up there with you?" 

Spirit: "No! oh no! that won't do!" (Pointing toward the 
lady's husband.) 

Then some other lady of the circle asked: "Well, can't I 
stand there?" 

Spirit: "There it is! I never get among the ladies but what 
they are all after me. I guess I had better go." And the spirit 
vanished from our sight, leaving the lady standing there alone. 

494. Then some form, perhaps that of Denton, arose in the 
arena and opened the writing-desk, then stepped back behind 
the door shutter, and instantly there stood in the arena two little 
children forms, side by side; these stood a moment and vanished. 

495. Then Thomas Paine arose and said: "Good-evening, 



RENDING THE VAIL. 93 

friends. I am truly glad to meet van here this evening-. Will 
you give me a subject?" "Schools" was announced. 

Spirit: "What do you mean by 'schools 1 ?" 

Secretary: ''What kind of schools or teaching should we 
have on earth for the young, in order to their highest good now 
and hereafter?" 

Spirit: "That 's it. Now you are getting down to business/' 

On this proposition the spirit Thomas Paine made his oration 
No. 13. (2437.) 

496. At the conclusion of Paine's oration, Denton appeared 
at the desk in the arena and took up a tablet, saying: "I was so 
elated over that speech I can hardly write. Good Brother Paine 
is a noble soul — always at work." 

As the spirit talked on concerning some peculiarities of this 
medium, giving us the causes, we observed him to be writing, 
and here the spirit said: "Why is that pendulum not going ?" 
He tore a leaf out of the tablet and gave it to the secretary, 
saying: "Look at that and see if it is my writing." 

The secretary turned to the stronger light, and said: "Yes, 
sir; that is all right." 

The page was about half written over, and signed "William 
Denton." "Impossible" was the first word on this sheet, showing 
the writing to be a continuation of something. This was shown 
to the whole circle, the spirit all the while standing out in the 
arena looking on, as if in deep interest. 

Then he raised the tablet again to the position of writing, 
saying, "One, two, three." As he began to count the secretary 
started the pendulum going and counted 20 vibrations thereof, 
when the spirit jerked the leaf upon wiiich he was writing from 
the tablet and handed it to the secretary, saying: "Look at that, 
please." 

As the secretarv looked at the writing the spirit said: "Is 
that all right?" 

Secretary: "Yes, sir; and well written — 24 lines." 

Spirit: "Thank you, sir. That is all." And vanished. 

It was found that the first writing was a continuation of the 
second. The reader will find that we place the second writing 
first, and the word "impossible" will show where the second paper 
ended and the first began. This makes Denton's writing No. 
25. That written down to the word "impossible" occupied a little 
less than 20 seconds of time to produce; the number of words 
written in this time is 157; this is at the rate of 471 words per 
minute. (1804.) 

When the reader considers that 200 words per niinii! 
rapid reading and very rapid speaking, he can have some i<l<*a of 
what writing in good, plain, common English at the rate of 171 
words per minute means. And yet this is only one-half of tin' 



94 RENDING THE VAIL. 

rapidity with which some of the writing at these seances has 
been done. 

497. If there be those who say that the intelligence mani- 
fested herein is not of high enough grade to attribute to any 
such genius as Denton or Faraday, our Sam says: "Let them 
consider that if Denton and Faraday in these speeches and writ- 
ings utter truth, could the commonly supposed God of the uni- 
verse do more? Can any man, in the mortal or out of it, exhibit 
high intelligence in any way better than by uttering facts, utter- 
ing truths? What makes Darwin great? His simple facts. 
Denton was great on earth because of the utterance of simple 
facts. If he be now and herein uttering facts as to spirit life, 
could he or any other do greater?" 

498. Then again our Sam says: "Just look how long it 
took God to write the law and commandments, while Dr. Keed 
here, or Thomas Paine, would write the whole Mosaic code in less 
time than .30 minutes. I tell you that this scientific band of 
spirits is doing writing with a rapidity unexampled in the his- 
tory of the world. And if Edison should produce a machine 
that w 7 ould enable a person to write 500 words a minute, produc- 
ing the successive thoughts of the operator, during the writing, as 
the matter written, he would be held as the greatest wonder of 
the world during all the ages." 

499. After Prof. Denton, spirit Keed arose in the arena at 
the desk and w T rote his No. 33, to the question, "What is death?" 
(1419.) 

500. When Prof. Faraday wrote his No. 17. (2650.) 



Seance No. J>7. 

May 14, 1891. 

501. Prof. Denton, standing in the cabinet doorway, made 
His address No. 14. (2068.) 

502. As Denton concluded and vanished from the doorway 
of the cabinet Thomas Paine stood forth in the arena, beginning 
his oration No. 14. (2444.) 

Seance No. 48. 

May 17, 1891. 
502-J. Among the forms presented on this occasion was one 
known to us as that of Epes Sargent. This spirit, being able 
to vocalize to a limited extent, said: "If you could understand 
the laws, you would know the reason that it is so difficult for us 
to manifest to you our presence and individuality. Indeed, a 
moment of thought must lead you to exclaim, 'How wonderful 
it is that spirits return at all!' I have written a great deal of 
these things and thought much; but came far short of a realiza- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 95 

tion of these wonderful things. If I had known, as I might have 
known, I could now come back and tell you of the vast fields of 
treasure awaiting you on this side of life." 

503. Then that wonderful full-form materialization vocal- 
izer, spirit Thomas Paine, arose in the arena, and to the subject 
"Passing through the Spheres" made his grand oration No. 15. 
(2465.) 

503-J. When Paine descended, spirit control Dr. Reed arose 
at the desk in the arena, picked up two tablets, let one of them 
fall upon the floor outside the arena curtain, and said: "Oh, 
there! I've dropped one." 

Then a hand reached out, under the curtain, and picked the 
tablet up, and a form arose in the arena and handed that tab- 
let to spirit Reed, saying: "Here, Doctor, is the tablet you 
dropped." As the doctor took the tablet he said: "Thank you, 
sir." 

This spirit form that handed the tablet to spirit Reed we 
recognized at once to be that of the trance control that we name 
Samuel — Sam for short. When Reed said, "Thank you, sir," 
Sam said, "Dot ish all vright, Doctor," and Sam immediately 
vanished out of our sight, leaving the spirit chemical control. 
Dr. Reed, standing alone in the arena. 

504. Reed, thus standing, held the tablet in his left hand, 
and with his right hand wrote three pages of the tablet, tearing 
each leaf out of the tablet as the writing on it was finished, and 
giving the same to the secretary; one page only, of each leaf, 
being written upon. The first page was timed at 19 seconds. 
Reed had not signed this writing, as he usually does. The spirit 
asked the secretary to critically examine for the name, and while 
so examining, 

505. Denton arose in the arena, seized hold of a tablet, and 
wrote one page with the greatest rapidity of any yet; he finished 
just as the secretary looked up from hunting Reed's signature, 
and said to the secretary: "I guess I got ahead of you that time. 
Take this and see if it is my handwrite." 

The secretary looked, and said: "It is the hand we recog- 
nize here as that of spirit Denton." 

This writing of Reed's was his No. 34. (1421.) And Den- 
ton's writing was his No. 26. (1811.) 

Of Dr. Reed's writing the first page contains 168 words; 
this, in 10 seconds, is at the rate of 557 words per minute. 

Seance No. J^9. 

May 10, 1891. 

506. Spirit Denton, made up inside the cabinet, drew the 
door curtains aside, moved into the doorway, let the curtains 



96 RENDING THE TAIL. 

close behind hini, took one step out into the room toward and 
in front of the circle, and said: ''Well, Mr. Secretary, have you 
any subject you wish discussed this evening?" 

Secretary: "Indeed, Professor, I was thinking to be satis- 
fied with your own choosing at this time, and have not any with 
me now." 

Denton: "I would rather you furnish a subject, so what 
will you have? Please be quick. Don't study so long. You 
should have your questions ready; we can't stand here and wait." 

Secretary: "We shall be satisfied with the best you have 
in the shop." 

Denton: "Well, I guess I will have to go down there 
after it." 

Secretary: "Down where?" 

Denton: "Down to your house. I will either go myself or 
send Samuel." Then, turning back so as to partially face the 
cabinet door, he said: "Say, Samuel, will you please go and 
get that thing?" 

In an instant Sam pulled the door curtains aside, handed a 
paper to Denton, and said: "Here it is, Professor; here ish dot 
baber." 

Denton took the paper and made some four steps forward 
to within reach of the secretary, handed to him the paper, and 
said, as he did so : "Look at that paper and see whether you ever 
saw it before." 

Secretary: "Yes, sir. Where did you fellows get this 
paper?" 

Voice of Sam within the cabinet: "I shoost now got him 
down at your house." 

Secretary : "Whereabouts ?" 

Sam: "Among dem babers on dot leedle shelf." 

Denton : "Read what is on that paper." 

Secretary reads: "The spiritual value and mission of Art." 

Denton: "Say, Mr. House, did you ever before hear of that 
subject?" 

House: "Yes; I wrote that subject and gave it to the secre- 
tary, and you discussed it the other evening." 

Mr. House had formerly given to the secretary two small 
papers, one containing six topics for discussion and this one five, 
of which the above named is the first. 

507. These two papers had been presented to the answer- 
ing spirits, and more or less commented upon; and, supposing 
that the controls were done with them, the secretary had filed 
them away with the archives of these seances, after having copied 
them and comments into the record, the two papers being placed 
away together. 

508. W T hen the secretary arrived at home, some more than 
half a mile from the seance-room, he examined the files and 



RENDING THE VAIL. 97 

found the other of the two papers mentioned had been removed 
from its place among the hies, except one corner, just so thai the 
paper rested on a folded newspaper beside the packet of hies. 
How did that paper get from those hies to the seance-room? 

The secretary says he knows that he filed both papers away 
together, and so left them at home, and that he did not remove 
them, or either of them, before this seance, and had nothing what- 
ever, directly or indirectly, to do with getting that said paper 
with the said five questions from the the said files into this seance- 
room; and that no other person in any normal way could have 
known of the two papers among the said files and placed them, 
or either of them, in this seance-room at this time without the 
knowledge of the secretary; and that the secretary has no such 
knowledge. 

Sam, the trance control, here says he got that paper from 
those files at the secretary's house, and conveyed it from thence 
to the seance-room and gave it to spirit Denton. 

509. Spirit Toms Xixon (203), father to the secretary, an 
excellent materialization, stood in front of the curtains in the 
cabinet door and made a good little talk, very like his natural 
voice and manner while in the mortal. He said: 

"I was. in my early days, quite regular in attending meeting 
["Friends''], and all the while doubts were in my way. Spirit- 
ualism removed many of them, but I find this side of life much 
more realistic than I had ever thought at all possible. In fact, 
this is the real — that the shadow. Oh, I cannot find words — 
language is too poor — to portray the realistic beauty, grandeur, 
and substantiability of our homes over here! Of the children 
of mine in that world, I am glad that one will leave some marks 
of Spiritualism of which to be proud when he gets over here, and 
his life on earth, in retrospection, passes before his illumined 
vision." 

510. Spirit Dr. Coons, one of our former neighbors, stood 
out on the floor in front of the cabinet door, so perfect in make-up 
that we all readily recognized him. He talked to us in his old 
familiar way, with his voice almost identical to that of his earth 
life. In regard to our talking to his children and others about 
this grand truth, he said: 

"When people don't want to know the truth, bin would 
rather remain ignoramuses, you waste your breath when you 
undertake to show them the light. Just let them aloni — let them 
be ignorant. They will find out their mistake some time. They 
know that they could find out now; but they think for them to 
shut their eyes prevents the sunshine. Tf all the world were 
blind and deaf but you, you could enjoy the light and tie- music 
of birds all the same. Or. if a man would be so ashamed of him 
self as to hide away in a dark cave and bo determined not to 
come out to the light and sweet songs of Nature for fear thai 



98 RENDING THE VAIL. 

his old friends would see hini in his woebegone condition, you 
would waste your time in pitying that man's ignorance of the 
light of the world. Let him alone, and listen and look in heaven's 
sweet light yourself. Let the fools alone in their folly." 

511. When this form had faded away, that of Prof. Denton 
stood forth and began vocalization in his usually distinct oral 
utterance, making his oral effort No. 15. (2093.) 



Seance No. 50. 

May 24, 1891. 

512. Prof. Denton and Dr. Reed at the same time appeared 
full form in the arena, talking to each other for near a minute. 
Denton went down as Reed said to the secretary, "Ready," which 
meant for the pendulum to be started, and his writing timed 
from the instant of the word "Ready," which was done, and 
the first page marked 14 seconds, the second page 16 seconds, 
and the third page 13 seconds; total time, 43 seconds; and this 
writing. Reed's No. 35, contained 489 words; this shows that 
more than 11 words were written per second — the wonderful 
and astounding rate of 680 words per minute. Beside this, 40 
punctuation marks, the i's dotted and f s crossed, and all capital 
ized and paragraphed. What man in the mortal, since the 
singing of the morning stars, has given such evidence of active 
intelligence? And the everlasting hills the question echo. (See 
the writing, 1422-1426 e.) 

513. Prof. Faraday, following Dr. Reed, made his writing 
No. 18, which seems much like matter on the same line as it 
appears in "Planetary Evolution." (2657.) 



Seance No. 51. 

May 26, 1891. 

514. This seance presented to our vision some very excellent 
materializations, most of them very readily recognized. Among 
these phenomena, Mary House, former wife of C. V. N. House, 
stood in the cabinet door, and in front of her a small child, 
Ruthie Long, who, before she passed to spirit life, was known 
by Mr. House and his present wife. Spirit Mary held the child 
form by the hand as they stood there a moment in pleasant con- 
versation with Mr. and Mrs. House. 

51 4 J. As these two forms stepped backwards into the cabi- 
net Professor Denton, passing them, came out of the cabinet, 
stood by the doorway of the cabinet, and, after some preliminary 
remarks, made his vocalization No. 16, principally in answer to 
the remainder of the G. H. Walser series of questions. (2104- 
21061.) 



REX dim; the vail. 0,9 

515. Then Warren Chase gave some very good vocalization, 
as his form stood before us, concerning how he was persecuted 
while on earth for his avowed Spiritualism; and how, on passing 
to spirit life, he found his Spiritualism true, except that spirit 
life is much more realistic than he could comprehend before 
reaching it. 

516. Mrs. Dr. Lamb, of Parsons, being present, a form stood 
forth and said he was Dr. Kitridge, of New Haven; he said we 
would find, from the Banner of Light files, that he had reported 
himself to the Banner Circle. 

Mrs. Lamb said: "That is so. I have the paper at home/' 

517. Then a form stood up in the arena; this form was 5 
feet 3 or 4 inches tall, strange to us all; with a coarse voice, 
quick-spoken, of good physique; his talking at first was not clear 
and distinct, because so quick of enunciation, but soon he got 
sufficient control to be clear and distinct in utterance. 

"We don't know you. Give us your name, can't you?" 

Spirit: "You will know me ere I go. I'll tell you if you 
guess it." 

We did much guessing after this fashion: "Were you a 
public character?" 

Spirit: "Yes." 

Question: "Were vou ever in Massachusetts?" 

Spirit: "No." 

Question: "Nor Ohio? Nor Indiana?" 

Spirit: "No." 

Question: "Were vou acquainted at Washington ?" 

Spirit: "Yes." 

House: "Did you know our daughter there?" 

Spirit: "I have seen her." 

Secretarv: "Oh, you are that Knoxville, Tennessee, man." 

Spirit:" '"Yes." 

Question: "Parson Brownlow?" 

Spirit: "This is what's left of him." 

House: "Well, we never saw you." 

Spirit: "You see me now, don't you? Good-bye. " And he 
vanished. 

518. Then Thomas Paine loomed up in the arena, and made 
his oration No. 10. (2177.) 

Seance No. 52. 

May 31, 1891. 

519. There were several visitors present at this seance, to 
wit: Mrs. Dr. Lamb, of Parsons. Kas. ; Gh C. Armstrong, V. T. 
Beech, and E. W. Elting. of Moline, Kas.: and (J. W. Cook, of 
Spring Hill, Kas. 

In addition to phenomena for the personal benefit of the 
visitors, Dr. Reed made his writing No. 36, which we found to be 



100 RENDING THE VAIL. 

in continuation of his No. 35. This writing was upon two leaves 
of one of the tablets being used for this purpose, and, in this 
instance, the spirit took especial pains, in tearing the leaves out 
of the tablet, to partly tear them in two, about one-third of the 
way down the pages, so as to call strict attention to the fact that 
the leaves so written upon and torn are the identical leaves we 
all saw the spirit tear out of the tablet. As the leaves were torn 
out they were thrown carelessly into the writing-desk and the 
tablet then thrown into the desk. Then the spirit vanished out 
of our sight. (See the writing, 1427-1432.) There was, also, a 
Chinese or Japanese writing, which is the engraving at par. 1168. 

520. A form we recognized as that of the late Dr. Lamb, 
deceased, arose in the arena at the writing-desk. 

Mrs. Lamb, the spirit's widow, entered into some conversa- 
tion with the spirit, and finally asked: "Well, Doctor, will you 
write at this time?" 

Spirit: "I will try." 

Then the spirit began an examination of the tablets, one 
after another, saying: "You have a good many books in here — 
quite a number; I hardly know which one to use." At last he 
made a selection, and said: "I guess I will take this one. Now 
what will you have me write about?" 

Mrs. Lamb: "Anything you choose, pa." 

Spirit: "Well, let me see. I guess I will write about 
veneration." 

As he began writing he said, "I can't write very fast; it will 
take me some time, I expect," but in much less time than any 
of us could have done it, he had this written : 

521. "Friends, whenever a system, a faith, a doctrine, gets 
around it a sanctity which forbids inquiry into it, or comparison 
of it with other systems, faiths, or doctrines, that vail of sanctity 
hides, narrows, and weakens the moral and intellectual force of 
its votaries. When it demands of its votaries blind, unques- 
tioning submission, it necessarily encourages blindness and 
ignorance. 

(a) "If a sense of veneration once seems to require of you 
that you shut your eyes and ask no questions, you may take 
warning from that moment that that sense of veneration is 
trespassing upon the true domain of your consciousness, which is, 
or should be, more sacred than any dogma ; for, by its cultivation 
and rightful power, alone, can your soul grow. 

"No, not only that, but Christ's system is not the only one. 
I speak not alone to Christian nations, but of Christian creeds, 
and to all nations of all creeds now existent." 

Seance No. 53. 

June 4, 1891. 

522. There were six or seven persons at this seance who 
had had but little, if any, experience in the matter of the phe- 



RENDING THE VAIL. iqi 

nomena; nevertheless there were some forty form presentations, 
mostly for the benefit of the strangers present, and most of them 
seemed to be clearly recognized and identified. 

523. In the meantime Thomas Paine made up inside the 
cabinet, parted the cabinet door curtains, stepped through the 
parting, to a full-form position, standing in the cabinet doorway, 
let the curtains close behind him, and made his vocal effort No. 
17. (2482.) 

Telegraphy — Psychic. 

524. Some three months ago the controls promised us that 
if we would procure a common telegraphic instrument, they 
would show us that they could use it. We have now such an 
apparatus all fitted up with battery connections, and find that 
there are spirits that visit our seances who can, so far as we 
are able to judge, use the machine to any degree of expertness. 
None of us can read the work, but we have a Morse alphabet, by 
which we make out some words and, once in a while, a whole 
sentence. It does not need the medium or any visible person 
to be in contact with the key or keyboard. We place the whole 
apparatus on a table properly connected by wire to the battery 
on the floor in the same or any other room, and away goes the 
machine, spelling, in telegraphic sound alphabet, short messages, 
names, and the like; and when the medium is in the cabinet, the 
operator becomes visible to us, and we see the spirit stand by 
the instrument and manipulate it both with and without contact. 

525. The spirit then tells us to take away the connecting 
wires and let the machine be on the table without contact with 
or to the battery. This we do, and the instrument goes right on 
as the spirit stands beside it. 

520. Then the spirit tells us that in less than ten years 
man will be able to telegraph from place to place without the 
battery; that he will learn to connect with natural electro 
magnetic currents, and thus without artificial battery be aide to 
efficaciously pass messages; and that, after a while, spirits would 
come to the help of the transmitter, and make the matter more 
efficacious still. 

So we here and thus learn that in tin 1 not far-away future 
there may be wonderful improvements in the matter of te].-o 
raphy; at least, should man learn of the ability of the spirit 
world to assist in any laudable work. 

527. In regard to our keyboard, we found that if we boxed 
it up so that no light would be admitted to the key, the spirit 
force could the more efficaciously work the instrument. The 
spirits told us: "The reason is that we can better form tli« 
hand in the dark to work the key." 

528. One visitor, who claimed to stand en Bible gronnd, 
could not see why any part should be hid away in the dark box, 



102 RENDING THE TAIL. 

although his own eyes had beheld the key at work in broad day- 
light, without human contact or any visible contact; yet, because 
it seemed to work better entirely closed up so no human hand 
could touch the key, that part in the dark was diabolism. 

529. This led our Sam to make a little speech inside the 
cabinet, where all was dark, but the voice was clear and loud 
and comical, to the amusement of the circle and chagrin of the 
objector. Sam, in his broken Gernian-English, said: 

"If that man would get out of the caves of darkness, of 
ignorance, that he keeps himself hid away in like shut up in a 
clam-shell, where he never allows one single ray of truth to enter 
his own brain, and in the light of to-day would read his Bible, 
he might find that most of the reported physical phenomena of 
the Bible occurred in the darkness. He might soon learn that 
the inability of a blind man to behold the sunshine is no evidence 
of anything but his own blindness, or, rather, his own willfully 
shut-up eyes." 

Seance No. 5J+. 

June 7, 1891. 

530. Four persons were present who had not before at- 
tended these seances. 

(a) As the medium, with a white linen duster on, entered 
the cabinet, Dr. Reed stood in the cabinet door, dressed in a black 
suit, greeting us. 

(b) Then several male and female forms, one after another, 
of the spirit friends of the visitors, stood in the cabinet door, 
and nearly all of them were recognized by the visitors. 

531. One Redfield, a most glorious materialization, walked 
right up to the secretary .and reached out his hand, saying: "How 
do you do, sir? I am so glad to see you here, and I 'm glad to be 
here myself." 

Secretary: "What Redfield are you?" 

Spirit: "Don't you know Sidney Redfield?" 

Secretary : "Yes, sir ; I know one Sidney Redfield." 

Spirit : "Well, I 'm his son. AYe used to live in southern 

Indiana. I invented a smut-mill." 

Secretary: "Oh, yes; I used to know you at Salem." 
Spirit: "Yes, sir; at Salem, Millport, and all about there." 
Secretary: "Well, I suppose you found your smut-mill of 

use when you got on that side?" 

Spirit: "Well, yes. I was not as much filled with 'orthodox 

smut as some, but my smut-mill soon cleaned the old orthodox 

myths away — took away the old idols, and let me see myself 

and the glories of spirit life." 

Then the spirit turned to Mr. House, who is a millwright 

bv trade, and who worked at the same, many years ago, at St. 



RENDING THE MIL. 103 

Louis, Mo., and said to Mr. House: "I am Redfield, inventor of 
a very excellent smut-mill." 

Mr. House said: "I used to know something about that 
business.'' 

Spirit: "Yes, but not so much as I." 

The spirit (pointing - toward the secretary) continued: "That 
gentleman can tell you all about my machine." Then the spirit 
retired behind the curtains. 

532. A form w T e recognized as that of David Cook advanced 
far out into the room, clearly personating his appearance wheo 
in the mortal. After considerable conversation with his widow 
and daughter, he began vanishing at the feet, and gradually 
vanished away, the head going down as the lower limbs and then 
the trunk dissolved away, until the chin reached the floor; ihen 
the mouth opened, pronounced the words "Good-bye," am as 
quick as lightning that head vanished from our sight. 

533. This mode of dematerialization or dissolution of the 
temporary form is one of the most astounding and stubborn facts 
that an investigator can witness. 

534. To behold a personage walking about the room suffi- 
ciently substantial to move a chair in front of it as it goes about ; 
to see its very eyes sparkling with the tires of life; to hear it 
engage in long conversations, in clear, audible, oral tones of 
voice, as a common man or woman would talk; to see it write 
long essays with incredible swiftness, and then to see it begin 
to descend as though going, feet first, down through the floor, 
until the chin reaches the floor, then utter the words "Good-bye," 
and the head instantly vanish out of sight; and to know that 
the floor is solid, the carpet solid, and no chance for confederates 
or automatons to go dow r n through the floor — these are phenom- 
ena that one must witness often in order to be sure he is not self 
deluded. 

535. As the head of Mr. Cook vanished Prof. Denton was 
stepping out of the cabinet at the cabinet door to a chair that 
was three or four feet away from the door; then he moved the 
chair in front of him as he advanced farther out into the room. 
near to the feet of the sitters in the middle of the circle. Here 
the spirit stood with folded arms and elbows resting on the chair 
back. This brought the spirit to a slightly stooping position. bu1 
seeming to rest at perfect ease, gazing about the room in a pleas 
ing general appearance. After a minute or two in this attitude, 
the spirit said: "Well, Mr. Secretary, what will you have this 
evening?" 

Secretary: "Thought — is it a substance of such nature that 
if two spirits are conversing, a third spirit can see the thoughts 
passing between the two conversing?^ 

Beginning with this question. Prof. Denton made his vocal 
effort No. 17. ' (2107.) 



104 RENDING THE VAIL. 

536. When Denton had gone, spirit Dr. Lamb arose in the 
arena, and engaged in conversation with his widow as he took 
from the desk a tablet, in which he made this writing: 

"I believe in man using his reasoning faculties and investi- 
gating all abstruse and mysterious matters, generally taken on 
faith; and that if he did so, he would find some natural law to 
explain it all. 

"The world is growing out of the blind faith of childhood 
into the reasoning state of manhood, and I shall endeavor to help 
its growth. 

"When on earth, I had arrived at a point where I would 
not believe anything that could not be proven. Future existence 
had been proven, conclusively, to my mind, and I had investi- 
gated the treasures of Nature, till I had arrived at the con- 
clusion that within her bosom was the beginning of my identical 
self. 

Transition. 

537. "Darkness was closing around me — the light was fail- 
ing. I seemed unconscious, but was not. I knew I was dying 
like a wasted fire, and all that would be left of me would be a 
blackened heap, a handful of ashes. 

"Following a few moments of insensibility — I knew not how 
many, but the time seemed short — I awakened as with an electric 
shock, and there beheld my friends. 

(Signed) «J. B. Lamb." 

538. Then, after some conversation with Mrs. Lamb, the 
spirit vanished from our sight, and Dr. Eeed rose up in the arena, 
at the desk, made his writing No. 37, and then sank instantly. 
(1430-1432.) 

539. As he went down spirit Denton arose at the desk, took 
a tablet, and made his writing No. 27. (1813.) 

Spirit Endosmosis. 

540. As the Denton form dissolved away a form passed out 
of the cabinet through the cloth that forms the north end of the 
cabinet; this cloth is solid, has no opening in it through which 
any common material might pass, nor was the cloth so arranged 
as to be movable at either side, so as to allow passage around 
it out of the cabinet into the arena. 

(a) The spirit form either endosmosed the cloth or the form 
was taken on to the spirit at the cloth on the arena side of the 
cloth as the spirit itself passed through the cloth. (1170.) 

Co) Spirits constantly affirm that material substances are 
no barrier to the passage of spirit beings; but, since they also 
say that spirit itself is material, it remains to be shown to mortals 
how even pure spirit can pass through material forms: whether 



BENDING THE TAIL. 105 

there is displacement of particles of matter or of the passing 
spirit, or whether such passage can be and is effected without 
any displacement on either part. 

(c) At any rate, spirit endosmosis is an interesting matter 
to consider. 

(d) But, at all events, this form was there, and talking a 
gibberish we understood to be Chinese broken English; lie 
finally got us to understand his name to be Wing Leaf. 

(e) The circle, this evening, being mostly of ladies, some 
of them asked the spirit what he thought of them. Pointing 
about to them, he said: 

(f) "Vyloo Melican vwimmen. Me no likee Melican vwim- 
men. Me likee Schina vwimmen." 

{g) This spirit took up a tablet and wrote on one half, tore 
that leaf from the tablet, laid it and the tablet on the desk, and 
then endosmosed the same curtain, thereby passing into the < lin- 
net from our sight. 

The writing we found to be these characters, which we are 
unable to interpret, if indeed they signify anything; but they 
seem to us more Japanese than Chinese: 

Seance No. 55. 

June 9, 1891. 

542. Spirit Denton, standing in the cabinet door, after talk- 
ing about our telegraphy and some other matters in a social way, 
asked that we name a subject. 

Mr. Carberry said: "I would like to hear something about 
passing from this to the next life." 

The spirit then made a short talk as his No. 18. (2108.) 

543. Then, as Denton passed back behind the door curtains 
into the cabinet, the spirit Thomas Paine arose in the arena and 
made his oration No. 18. (2483.) 

5431. Before the sound of the last words of this oration had 
ceased reverberating in the room, the spirit had vanished away 
from our sight, and spirit Dr. Des immediately stood in the cab- 
inet door, talking, in the Swedish tongue, to Andrew Peter 
son, of the circle, who understands that language. This spirit 



106 RENDING THE VAIL. 

announced to Mr. Peterson the presence of Swedenborg, and then 
retired behind the curtains. 

544. Swedenborg then stood in the cabinet door to our 
view, and began an oration in what we discerned to be the Swed- 
ish language, which none of us, except Mr. Peterson, could under- 
stand; and he, being very deaf, could only get part of it, but suffi- 
cient to show that the spirit was talking of the angels, the devil, 
the hells, the heavens of Swedenborg. 

545. After this alleged Swedenborg had retired, we asked 
Sam whether he could tell us what the speech was. He said: 
"I did not understand, but an interpreter here can tell me and I 
tell you.-' Then Sam, in his broken German-English, said: 

(a) "That was the great Swedenborg. He said: 'Good- 
evening, friends. I heard you speaking about the ideas given 
in my book concerning heaven and hell and the Deity. I was 
honest. I was sincere. I was in earnest. I spent my life on 
earth endeavoring to get the world to see as I did. 

(b) " 'But when I came to this side of life, I soon found 
that I had been much mistaken. I looked for God as I had un- 
derstood Him, but I found Him not. I made inquiry of the good 
spirits whom I met. They knew no such personage, nor in 
spirit life had ever heard of such a one. 

(c) " 'I inquired for my heavens, and hells, and angels, and 
devils; but I found only one beautiful world, inhabited only by 
spirits. Human spirits everywhere, as autumnal butterflies, 
basking in the glorious effulgence of these delightful realms.' ' : 

546. Spirit Sam, continuing on his own account, said: 
"Say, Mr. Nixon, don't you know that when you plant seed, it 
bursts open, and lets the life, the spirit out to clothe itself with 
a new body, and goes on with the new body until the spirit is 
again in the form of seed? The shell of the old seed is gone back 
to the elements, but the spirit is still in the new seed — really the 
same seed. And so even the seed of the plant continues to live 
on, and on, and on, preserving its kind. 

(a) "So of the new birth. No difference how many spheres 
born into, or how many it passes through, it is the same individ- 
uality all the while, always manifesting its kind. 

"Here, Mr. Nixon, you have the whole business in a nutshell. 
I guess T go now. Good-night." 

And thus the seance closed. 

Seance No. 56. 

June 11, 1891. 

547. There were some very excellent materializations, but 
most of the seance was occupied at experimenting with the tele- 
graph, to show how that spirit magnetism and the galvanic cur- 
rent may be made to work together and how that spirit magnet- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 107 

ism may be made to supplant the galvanic current in telegraphy, 
and Low by and by, when Spiritualism becomes better under- 
stood, messages- may, by spirit magnetism, be passed from one 
instrument to another without wire connection. 

(a) For several days we had been getting the machine in 
good working order, and had, at times, succeeded so far that 
spirits could and did work it, yet we did not succeed in getting 
the adjustments exactly right. 

(■&) Our machine is a common telegraph instrument, with 
the common galvanic battery, and connections all in the usual 
way. The key is in a small box, the bottom and top of which 
are composed of slates and the sides and ends of walnut, :* 
inches between the slates when the box is closed. 

(c) The box is cut in two midway the sides and ends, and 
the upper and lower halves hung together by hinges, so arranged 
as to be fastened by lock and key. 

(d) The whole apparatus, the box containing the key, the 
sounder outside the box, and the battery, all properly connected 
by wire as for common telegraphy, and the whole placed on a 
small table. 

(e) Then the table containing the apparatus was placed near 
i:o the front curtain of the arena, so that a person or spirit stand 
mg in the arena could easily reach the whole machine. 

548. Some twenty minutes before seance time Mr. House 
and the medium were sitting at the telegram table, when a mes- 
sage was wired out, very little of which could be deciphered by 
the medium and Mr. House. 

(a) As soon as Mr. Aber was entranced and taken into the 
cabinet, Sam announced himself as ready to talk a moment. 

(b) Mr. House asked him if he could find out what the mes- 
sag just referred to was. Sam said: "Yes; I was standing by 
The message w T as from your wife, Mary House. She was telling 
the operator to say to you: 

(c) " 'Good-evening, my dear husband. I am so glad of being 
first to send a message over this instrument — the first to be 
interpreted. This looks like being a grand success; and I hope 
I shall be able soon to greet you again this way. 

(Signed) " 'Mary Rouse. 1 " 

549. A form then stood in the cabinet door, having a very 
intelligent appearance and being about 5 feet 11 inches high. 
We did not know T him. He said: "I am George Bancroft." 

550. Then another stood in the cabinet door, not quite so 
tall; he stood a moment or so, gazing at the telegraphic concern, 
and said: "My name is John Ericsson, the inventor." Then 
a form that we recognized as Erastus Coffin stood in the door: 
and, fixing his gaze upon the apparatus, remarked in somewhat 
Irish brogue: "Faith be jabbers! that ? s a quare-lookin' machine 
ye 've got there. What d' yes s'pose ye be goin' to do neow?" 



108 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Secretary: "Oh, you neyer could mimic an Irishman, and 
you 're doing no better now." 

Spirit : "Hello ! What 's the matther with me bein' an 
Irishman, jist, I do' know?" 

Secretary: "The Irishman says 'fath' (short a) and 'jabers' 
(long a). You reverse it, and your word meow' sounds like you 
never heard it outside of New York." 

Spirit: "Oh! oh! that's it, is it? What you goin' to do 
with that machine, anyway?" 

Secretary: "That is a trap to catch spirits in." 

Spirit: "You neyer get me in there without mighty nice 
bait." And, with a mischievous eye twinkle, the spirit retired 
behind the curtains into the cabinet. 

551. Then the alleged John Ericsson arose in the arena and 
advanced to a point near the telegraph, looked the instrument 
over a few seconds, and then beckoned the secretary to place the 
table containing the same in a position for the spirit to reach 
conveniently from within the arena. 

552. This done, the spirit reached over the arena wire and 
began adjusting the instrument, examining all the connections 
critically, as any mechanic would likely do, holding the instru- 
ment up in his hands, then placing it back on the table. At 
last he began fingering the keys, regulating the set-screws, and 
finally said: "That is all right now." Then he worked off sev- 
eral little messages. 

553. Then the spirit stood entirely clear, away from the 
instrument, with arms folded across his breast; but the instru- 
ment ticked off messages just the same, no visible personage 
having connection with or to the machine. 

554. Ericsson seemed to be in telegraphic connection with 
some invisible personage. He said: "We now have a spirit 
machine at the other end of the line connected to this one. I now 
ask: What is your time?" 

The instrument worked away as though the spirit were 
fingering the key, then stopped a moment, and then went on for 
a moment. 

Ericsson said to us: "He says it is 9:20 there, sun time." 

Secretary: "Mr. Ericsson, do you know the time here?" 

Spirit: "8:40, standard time." 

Secretary: "Then, Mr. Ericsson, the other station must be 
near TOO miles to the east of us? That would be near Cincinnati." 

Spirit: "East and north; the other spirit is at Cleveland, 
Ohio." 

555. The spirit, continuing, said: "This is a marvelously 
significant success: For, as we can to some extent control 
electro-magnetic currents from planet to planet, and even across 
insterstellar spaces, we may be able, when mortals become more 



REXDI^G THE VAIL. 109 

cognizant of spirit forces and intelligence, to open up for you 
and with you, without intervention of anything but spirit direc- 
tion, telegraphy among mortals, and of spirits with mortals; for 
this experiment shows that spirits can connect spirit magnetism 
with galvanic magnetism, and thus put mortals in direct tele- 
graphic line with the whole spirit world." 



Seance Ko. 07. 

June 14, 1S91. 

556. There were several materializations, mostly recognized, 
and some repetition of those telegraphic experiments; and in due 
time Dr. Keed arose in the arena and made his writing Xo. 38. 
(1433-1438.) 

557. As Reed dissolved away Prof. Denton arose and took a 
tablet, saying: "I will try whether or not I can do as well as the 
Doctor." Then Denton manipulated the telegraph, calling our 
attention to the various different sounds; theu, standing clear 
of the key, he said: "Listen; do you hear that? They are call- 
ing an operator. Here he comes." Then Denton began writing 
No. 28 (1814), while the instrument ran right on. Then Denton 
stopped, and said: "They're calling another. Here he comes; 
just from Venus, was never here before. Now there comes an- 
other; he's from the moon." 

558. Miss Moore: "I thought the moon not inhabited." 
Denton: "Why not?" 

Miss Moore: "The physical conditions not sufficient to sus- 
tain human life." 

Denton: "The moon makes a very nice home for some 
spirits, but not for men and women in the physical as you are. 
These inhabitants of the moon are spirits who were originally 
of your earth." 

559. As Denton finished writing and retired, Sam, from 
within the cabinet, took up the question of the planets, and, to 
the question,"Which of the planets are inhabited?" said: "All 
of them. Every one. They are not all inhabited by men and 
women like you. Men and women like you are born on your 
earth and Jupiter, and. at various times, some of them in spirit 
life find homes about the various planets, and even their moons." 

Miss Moore: "Does Venus produce men and women?" 

Sam: "Not much, that ever I found out. Spirits that were 
first born on the earth and then into spirit life inhabit Venus, 
and, like all others, sometimes come back to earth on a visit." 

When Denton had done this writing and laid the tablet and 
leaves containing the writing on the stand, he descended out of 
our sight. 

500. As he was descending Prof. Faraday emerged from the 
cabinet: apparently passing through the cloth that constitutes 



HO BENDING THE VAIL. 

the north end of the cabinet into the arena, at the telegraph, and 
reached over the arena wire, to the key of the instrument, say- 
ing: "I wonder if this apparatus will run." And he manipulated 
the machine for a minute or two and then stood entirely clear 
of the apparatus, but it ran right on while he took up a tablet 
and wrote his essay No. 19. (2654.) 

561. Then, after several forms, one after the other, greeted 
us from the cabinet door, Thomas Paine arose in the arena and 
made his vocalization No. 19. (2487.) 



Seance No. 58. 

June 16, 1891. 

562. Dr. Reed, in his usual manner, opened the seance, 
greeting us with some encouraging remarks; he then gave way 
for spirit Denton, who stepped outside of the cabinet, two or 
three paces, to the chair, and, after salutation, asked: "Well, 
what will you have this evening?" And, in answer, something 
of a running dialogue occurred, which the reader will find, among 
Denton's vocalizations, as No. 19, at par. 2109. 

563. Among the several other spirit forms, there stood be- 
fore us one having long whiskers and somewhat bilious tempera- 
ment, in appearance about 5 feet 10 inches high, rather a long 
neck, tolerably well rounded forehead, and rather wide in the 
region of constructiveness (as located by phrenologists). 

This spirit directed his attention to the secretary, who, 
finally recognizing him, said: "Are you one of the Kedfield 
boys that invented a smut-mill?" 

Spirit: "Yes, sir. Don't you remember Sidney Redfield? 
You saw him at Millport." 

Secretary: "Your name was Richard, I believe." 

Spirit: "Yes, sir. And my brother Jim was here the other 
evening. Say, don't you remember Ben?" (At this the spirit, 
shoving the chair ahead of him to a point two or three feet from 
and in front of the secretary and leaning over the chair back, 
made a steady gaze into the secretary's eyes.) 

The secretary, answering, said: "Ben? Yes, I knew a Ben, 
but not Ben Redfield." 

Spirit: "No, no; you know Ben." 

564. Secretary: "Yes, I know several Bens. I knew one 
Ben Lockwood." 

Spirit: "That's him. He's here. He used to be in the 
leather business, you know. Sav, did vou know William 
Hitchcock?" 

Secretary: "I knew one William Hitchcock." 

Spirit: "Yes, two of them. This is not Uncle William; 
this is his son. You called him Bill." 



BENDING THE VAIL. HI 

Secretary: "Yes, sir." 

Spirit : "Well, be 's here." 

This Ben Lockwood was a tanner and leather dealer, and 
was '\ noted Universalist and quite generally known in southern 
Indiana, and the cities about the Ohio Falls. 

505. There was a William Hitchcock, of Washington 
County, Indiana, uncle to the secretary, and he had a son Will- 
iam, who was generally nicknamed Bill. The secretary never 
knew any other William Hitchcock nor any other Ben Lock wood 
who was generally called Uncle Ben. 

This spirit gave a great many "tests" of like nature, and was 
so overjoyed at being able to give such evidences of identity to 
recognition that his eyes and countenance and whole attitude 
glowed with the appearance of intense delight. 

566. The vocalizations of Sam, the German cabinet control, 
are generally inside the cabinet, and he says that only a suffi- 
ciency of larynx and vocal organs are materialized to produce 
the necessary vocal sounds, and this is used by him for his speech. 

The reader will remember that this spirit is inside the cabi- 
net, and not in our sight, unless the record of the particular in- 
cident states otherwise. 

So, in this instance, we have the voice of Sam inside the 
cabinet, saying: "Say, Mr. Nixon, you know that it is claimed 
for one of the pyramids, that its surface is a mathematical 
epitome of that of the earth? Well, don't you know that is 
a mathematical absurdity?" 

Someone asked: "Why?" 

Sam answered: "It would take all the paper you have on 
which to make the calculation." 

A member of the circle: "Oh, Sam! it might take you that 
long; you 're no calculator anyway." 

Sam: "I'll bet I can calculate quicker than any of you. 
You purchase one hundred dollars' worth of stock — sheep at 50 
cents, hogs at |3.00 — so that you have one hundred sheep, hogs, 
and cattle, how many of each have you, hugh? How much for 
each of the cattle?" 

After some guessing around the circle, Sam said: "You 
no got 'im? Dot eesh shust as easy vot notting. Suppose you 
have sheep 94; how mooch eesh dot? $47.00. Vel, and one 
shwine? $3.00. How mooch eesh dot? $50.00. How mooch 
stock yo got? 94 sheep and hog, 95. How mooch cattle must 
be? $5.00. You got $50 left for cattle. How mooch eesh dot 
each? $10.00. Dare, don'dt you see? Dunder and blixen! 
Knock 'em all! Who says dish Dutchman can't count?" 

Sam was questioned very extensively as touching disease, 
health, diet, hvgriene, etc., and said he answered as Dr. Reed die- 



112 BEX DING THE TAIL. 

tated to him. The answers and apparent familiarity with the 
subject matter discussed showed a high degree of intelligence, 
thought, and study. We give one example: 

567. "How is it, Sam, that dyspeptic persons of the central 
Mississippi Valley sometimes find great relief, and some almost 
a specific, by living in some parts of Kansas for a time?" 

Sam: "In the water, in the air, but mostly in the food. 
The alkalies and salts abounding in the soil enter into the corn 
and wheat and fruits and vegetables in very healthful propor- 
tions, especially in the fruits, making a magnetic action upon 
the coatings and muscles of the stomach, favoring digestion and 
healthy action. Want of such magnetic conditions in other 
portions of the valley permits sluggishness of gastric action, to 
chronic or dyspeptic condition. 

568. "The benefit of change of climate or location is main- 
ly due to change of magnetic condition — where any benefit oc- 
curs at all, anc} this magnetic condition is principally obtained 
from the food." 



Seance No. 59. 

June 21, 1891. 

569. Present B. J. Miller, of Holden, Mo., Mr. Sayling and 
wife, of Dairy, Elk County, Kas., and James Jenkinson, of Lane, 
Kas., as visitors. 

In some respects this seance was a marvel of success, both 
as to materializations and tests to the visitors. 

570. Among the tests that may be of interest to the reader, 
one claiming to be William Jenkinson, in converse with his 
father, who was present as one of the visitors, said: "Father, 
do you remember watching with me the last hour? 

Father: "Yes, Will, I was there." 

Spirit: "Do you remember the clock struck when I was 



gone?" 

Father: "That's so, Will." 

Spirit: "That was a sad hour to you, wasn't it, father?" 

Father: "Yes, it was." 

Spirit: "But what a glorious time +° mG! My pain was all 
gone. My hip troubles me no more. I shuffle no more cards. 
I am getting to be happy now. Go on in this investigation. You 
will find it a great fact. 

"Yes, father, as soon as near enough free from my body, I 
caused the clock to strike. Then, when ready to leave the body 
and the room, with those escorting me, we caused the clock to 
strike again, and I was gone out into the great spirit world. 
And here to-night to let you know that Will Jenks is neither 
dead nor sleeping, but alive forevermore. Good-bye, father, and 
aunt, and all, but not forever." 



RENDING TEE VAIL. H3 

571. The father, Mr. Jenkiusoii, says thai during the last 
illness of this his son he became so nervous and sensitive that 
they had to stop the clock, as even its ticking annoyed the 
patient, and that the statements of the spirit as to the twice 
striking of the clock are true, and that the second striking so 
much alarmed those then on watch that they at once notified 
all in the house that had retired to rest. 

572. Then the apparition we recognize as Prof. Denton 
stood in the cabinet doorway to speak, saying: "Give me a sub- 
ject, please, and I will try to talk a little." 

And his talk Xo. 20 (2114) continues the dialogue form. 

573. Then there came up in the arena a most magnificent 
form gorgeously robed in Masonic attire, and addressed Mr. Mil- 
ler in signs of recognition used by the craft, calling himself 
Hiram of Tyre, and gave, so Mr. Miller said, one of the most 
complete exemplifications of the w T ork of the craft that he < ver 
witnessed. This spirit was wearing his Masonic jewel, which 
was glittering as a diamond. 

574. At length this gloriously robed form faded away, and 
in its stead another gradually made up of a cloud mist that arose 
in the arena, and finally stood forth as gloriously robed in Ma- 
sonic uniform as the one before. This form finally said aloud, 
in good oral English: "I am Hiram Abiff. I died having the 
secrets of ancient Masonry. Some think they have that secret 
work, but they have it only in part. They do not have it as it 
was intended. I have it, and some day it will be fully revealed 
to a few 7 . I died for my brothers. My enemies tried to force 
me to reveal the work, but I would not. I may write you some 
this evening, or get someone to write for me; not in the lan- 
guage I now r speak, but in the Chaldean tongue, and perhaps 
some Greek." And, with a bow T , this form vanished away from 
our sight. 

575. Then there came up one we did not recognize, but 
supposed him to be the one promised by the alleged Hiram 
Abiff to write for him, and produced a writing. (1175.) 

577. Our visitor, Mr. B. J. Miller, tells us that he is a 
Mason and now working in the military, and that these spirits 
give to him the secret work of the order with most complete 
fulness of exemplification that he ever witnessed, and that he has 
taken special pains himself to know and be able to fully ex- 
emplify the entire w T ork, so far as he has advanced. None of our 
circle know anything about the Masonic secret work, but others, 
besides Mr. Miller, visit us, claiming to be Masons and that they 
do receive of these apparitions satisfactory exemplifications of 
the secret work of the craft. 

For the portrait and biographv of Abiff, see pars. 821, 
926-930. 



114 RENDING THE VAIL. 




578. GIORDANO BRUNO. (912.) 

Statement (683-684, 918-920.) 

579. This spirit claims to be that Italian philosopher of the 
Renaissance, born at Nola about the year 1548 A. D. 

His philosophy was along the Copernican lines, which was 
heretical to Christians; and he, being of inquiring mind and some- 
what aggressive nature, was everywhere obnoxious to the priest- 
hood, whether Catholic or Protestant. 

His theological trend of thought was somewhat Pantheistic. 
He conceived that matter has life-unfolding force innate, even 



RENDING THE VAIL. 117, 

to the smallest particle, which he designated the monad, and 
spirit Denton, discussing life atoms now, frequently uses the term 
''monad." But Bruno considered the united energy of the in- 
finitude of monads to be the Deity. 

Now, this whole spirit band seem to hold that all creative 
energy, all life, all wisdom, all intelligence, is innate to the atom 
or monad, and that therefore the Deity, instead of being the 
greatest, largest animal or spirit or "totem univer % salum" is the 
least of all individualities, or things, in existence, and man its 
highest organic expression. 

So Bruno, having a mind looking toward this philosophy, 
was not then fit to live among Christian people; he was therefore 
fired into that country where heretics belong, and where his 
"monads" could wail in endless perdition. 

But here stands one in our cabinet door saying: "The gate 
keeper of Gehenna would not let one pass on those sacerdotal 
papers, and Bruno is made of monads that all the fires of earth 
and Gehenna cannot destroy." (See par. 684.) 

580. After the strange writing of June 21, 1891, spirit Dr. 
Reed arose in the arena, took a tablet, and wrote while the 
secretary counted aloud the number of pendulum vibrations. 3*8 3 
as this writing of Dr. Reed, No. 39, was being produced. (14:'»!>- 
1440.) The writing contains 326 words; this, in 38 seconds, is 
at the rate of 520 words per minute. 

581. When Reed had gone, Prof. Faraday apparently en- 
tered the arena through the cloth that separates the arena and 
cabinet, and made his writing No. 20. (2657.) 

582. Our Chinaman, Wing Leaf, put in an appearance, 
jabbered quite lively for a time, seeming rather mirthful: "Me 
litee. Makee picture Melican man." We found some characters 
on the paper. (See engraving at par. 1186.) 

Seance No. 60. 

June 23, 1891. 

583. Spirit Denton stood in the cabinet door in front of 
the door curtains and made his vocalization No. 21 (2116), being 
somewhat of dialogue form. 

587. Three little child forms at the same time stood up 
side by side in the arena, their heads just to the top of th.- cur- 
tain; one of these child forms talked a little, and all t h le- 
ans wered questions by nod of head. 

588. Then these three forms gradually faded away from 
sight, as a cloudlet will sometimes grow smaller and more trans- 
parent, and at last is all gone from sight. 

580. Perhaps an Athanasian mathematician could demon- 
strate how Mr. Aber was all three of those little child forms, 
and yet only one of them, and that one himself; Imw three 
persons may be only one, and that one all three of them: but 



116 RENDING TEE TAIL. 

we fail to reach such conclusion by any method known to the 
Saracenic schools of mathematicians. 

590. Instantly that the three child forms were gone, there 
stood to our view in the arena the form of that champion of 
liberty, Thomas Paine, making his oral effort No. 20. (2490.) 

Seance No. 61. 

June 28, 1891. 

591. This seance was during a great rain, accompanied by 
strong wind, vivid ligntning, and the consequent much thunder. 
Nevertheless, the materializations were most excellent, but the 
vocalizations not so good as usual. The controls said the storm 
conditions were such as affected their ability to hold the larynx 
long at a time. 

592. The storm, however, suggested the theme of casualties, 
which spirit Prof. Denton descanted upon from the cabinet door, 
making his oral effort No. 22, (2119.) 

593. Then Thomas Paine stepped out of the cabinet at the 
cabinet door and took his position about 3J or 4 feet from the 
cabinet front, being between the cabinet and the circle, and in 
this position made his oral effort No. 21, answering the question, 
''Who was the author of the Declaration of Independence?" 
(2501.) 

594. Then the chemical control, Dr. Reed, made his writing 
No. 40, 313 words, in 36 seconds — nearly 9 words per second. 
(See pars. 1441-1444.) 

595. As Reed faded away Prof. M. Faraday arose in the 
arena and made his writing No. 21 (2659), being largely a re- 
production of the matter under "Law of Control" as recorded in 
Faraday pamphlets. 

597. Then a woman form, which the circle recognized as 
Mary House, first wife to C. V. N. House, stood forth in the 
arena, at the writing-desk, and made this writing: 

598. "Many religious persons, on passing into spirit life, 
are subject to a great disappointment from finding things so 
different from what they were led to expect, owing to the teach- 
ings from the pulpit and elsewhere which they have received. 

(Signed) "Mary House." 

599. When Mary House had gone, spirit form Prof. Denton 
rose right up in the arena and quickly made his writing No. 29. 
(1821.) 

Seance No. 62. 

June 30, 1891. 

600. At this seance Buddha and his wife, Rachel Diogenes, 
and the artists Raphael and Titian, most magnificent material- 
izations, one after the other, stood in the cabinet door, greeting 
us until recognized by us from having before been introduced 
to us. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 117 

601. Then some seven or eight forms, in quick succession, 
rose in the arena, stood a moment, and vanished. 

002. Then one arose, tarrying some live minutes, and had 
the secretary stand near by. 

603. This form changed its robes from dark tu white and 
from white to dark; and from dark and light flowered to plain 
dark, and from smooth-fitting over arms and breast to full 
puffed and ruffled; all this in full view of all the circle, without 
the spirit disappearing for one instant. The spirit held out both 
hands and arms, that we might see the full ruffled robes. He 
said he is French, the same that had given his name on the 
telegraph just before this seance began: ''Dong Bongnot to 
Constick. Anrovant vuro Combro." 

604. A form then arose in the arena, drew the arena cur- 
tain aside, stooped and passed under the arena wire, and stood 
erect in front of the arena curtain; then bowed, stooped down 
under the wire, back into the arena, replaced the curtain, again 
stood erect, and w 7 ent as a dart, feet first, down through the 
floor. 

005. During all these appearances the secretary was stand- 
ing near enough to the arena wire to see over the curtain to the 
floor in the arena, and all these forms seemed to come up 
through the floor; and, in vanishing, to pass down through the 
floor, but no two of them had the appearance of passing through 
the floor at the same place. 

006. At length Thomas Paine arose in the arena; and, when 
fully formed, the secretary took his seat at his note desk. 

007. Then this spirit, in good, clear English, made his oral 
effort No. 22, consisting of something over 1000 words. (2505.) 

Seance No. 63. 

July 2, 1891. 

608. The reader should not forget that the business of the 
secretary of these seances is to take and keep a correct record 
of the entire proceedings, phenomena, and allged spirit writings, 
sayings, and orations of each seance, and read the same to the 
circle at the next seance or nearest subsequent opportunity, so 
that if any person of the circle or any spirit should deted any 
error of the record, correction could be made accordingly. So. 
in this instance, the secretary read to the circle, immediately be- 
fore opening the seance, the record of the seances of June 28th 
and 30th, which the circle approved. 

609. Then, as usual, the medium became entranced, and 
in the trance condition entered the cabinet and took his seal 
therein. Then follow^ corrections of minutes, if any are Deeded, 
by the spirits. 

In a few T seconds, not so many as ten, the chemical control, 
Dr. Reed, parted the curtains and stepped into the cabinet door. 



118 RENDING THE VAIL. 

allowing the curtains to close behind him, and said, in a loud 
whisper: "Mr. Secretary, one word in my manuscript you have 
wrong. It should be 'exposed,' and read: 'And they will be ex- 
posed in all their follies and corruptions.' I wish you would 
correct that in your copy." 

The secretary had the word "expressed" instead of 
"exposed." 

010. In this way any mistakes of record, not detected by 
the circle, never passed the controls without due notice from 
them to us. 

So we learned that such spirits as so desire can and do take 
cognizance of all we say and do. 

Oil. Prof. Denton, standing in the cabinet door, in front 
of the cabinet curtains, made his oral effort No. 19. 

612. Father King, after an absence of some twenty seances, 
gave us his trumpet-blast No. 3, taking up Talmage, as the 
circle had, just before the seance, discussed his treatment of 
Spiritualism. (2759-2766.) 

613. Thomas Paine then ascended in the arena, and con- 
tinued discussing The Progressive Thinker, and Talmage, and an 
article, by one Innis, in the Thinker, concerning spirit photog- 
raphy, and how strange that Robert Hare should have received 
such profound evidence of the fact of materialization as a great 
number of flash-light photographs of materialized spirits, in the 
city of Washington, D. C, and never have uttered a word to 
mortal man about it, and someone does not wish to credit the 
West for anything, etc. And to all of this Paine answered: 

"Yes, but the great Western country took the lead in break- 
ing physical shackles, so it must lead in breaking the mental and 
spiritual, and letting in the morning light. 

614. "Now I wish to say about our good Brother Francis 
that he has buckled on the armor of a warfare that is no child's 
play; and, in taking up the gauntlet dropped by the wily priest- 
hood, has transferred the seat of war to where it belongs. I 
wish you. Mr. Secretary, to say to him for me, that I am with 
him, and that I have been with him, and will be with him to 
the end. 

"I wish to say to you, friends, that it will be found that while 
there is one criminal in fifty among Christians, there is one in 
five hundred among Spiritualists. Francis is correct when he 
says: 'Spiritualists, as a class, are the purest people on earth.' 
And Talmage, on that point, a base liar. 

015. "When the books are opened and another book [Tal- 
mage's] is opened, then it will be seen that there are thousands 
in your penitentiaries who have not done humanity one-tenth the 
great wrongs that this self-conceited vicegerent of God on earth 
has done and is doing. No devil ever did more damage than 
he; and when the mists are cleared away, and the scales fallen 



BENDING THE VAIL. \ [9 

from his eyes, hissing serpents and stinging scorpions will meet 
him on every hand. 

(510. "Spiritualists, of course, are not all pure. There are 
black sheep in every nock, and some nocks have but few while 
sheep. Yet there are generally more white than black sheep." 

617. Robert Hare, standing in the cabinet door, said he 
never made such an experiment as to obtain with success. b\ 
means of magnesian flash-light, any photograph of a materialized 
spirit form. Neither did he do so by means of the calcium light, 
nor the electrical. He says, also, that the one we obtained here 
of Dr. Reed is the first and only one of complete success. (1230.) 

But the portrait at par. 1230 is copy of the flashlight photo- 
graph made by our spirit artist in crayon work. 

Seance No. 64. 

July 5, 1891. 

618. This seance afforded us the most wonderfully realistic 
phenomena w T e have yet witnessed. Thomas Jefferson in glori- 
ously illuminated form stood in the cabinet door. 

G19. Question: "How much of the Declaration of Ameri- 
can Independence are you the author of?" 

6191. Jefferson: "Very little. My good brother Thomas 
Paine is the author of that illustrious document. I arranged it 
and wrote it in the order vou have it, but I am not the author 
of it." 

020. Then Patrick Henry, Jonathan Pierpont, and John 
Pierpont, in glorious form, stood before us, each announcing his 
own name. 

621. Hannibal Hamlin, standing forth to our view, in re- 
markably strong voice announced his name and gave some con 
elusive tests as to his identity. 

622. One claiming to be Rachel Diogenes, with headdress 
and skirts glitteringly illuminated. 

623. John McCullough, in his richest theatrical attire, pre- 
sented in the cabinet door, and in a strong voice said: "I am 
John McCullough, the tragedian.'' 

Question: "Where is your sword?" 

624. At this, the spirit retired behind the door curtains and 
immediately arose in the arena with drawn and uplifted dagger, 
advancing very near to Miss May Cook at the right extremity 
of the crescent in the northwest corner of the room, some 8 feel 
from the medium in the cabinet, and. in his olden-time deep 
tragic voice and attitude, exclaimed, "Stand!" and instantly 
vanished. 

625. Then one in regal attire, with brilliant starry coronal, 
stood in the cabinet door, saying, in good oral speech, "I am 
the Emperor Julian," and dematerialized down, as through the 
floor. 



120 RENDING THE VAIL. 

626. Then spirit Marian Clark arose in the arena, and 
talked with his father, J. G. Clark, of Topeka, Kas., who was 
a visitor at this seance. They conversed familiarly, for several 
minutes, as father and son would who had just met after long 
separation: the spirit delineating to the father the beauties of 
the spirit life and of the spiritual philosophy; the father asking 
questions as to the home of the soul, as he would of some child 
who was on a visit from his distant home on earth, as to that 
home. 

627. But the phenomenal peculiarity of this instance was 
that while the spirit Madison Clark was talking in the arena, a 
tall lady form, dressed in white, was standing in the cabinet door, 
and when this lady form and spirit Clark had vanished, 

628. Spirit Dr. Reed arose in the arena and began writing 
his No. 41. (1445-1448.) And while he wrote, Sam, in the cabi- 
net, seized the trumpet, thrust it out through the cabinet door, 
and talked through the horn to the Doctor, he replying to Sam 
as he wrote. 

629. When Reed had written and gone, spirit Denton arose 
in the arena, at the desk, and made his manuscript No. 30. And 
while Denton wrote, Sam had the trumpet in a horizontal posi- 
tion, thrust one end out over the cabinet against the ceiling of 
the room, 8^ feet from the floor, and kept the horn moving about 
against the ceiling for some time; and during this time, too, a 
small childlike spirit form was visible in the cabinet door. When 
Denton had finished his writing, and he and the little girl had 
gone, 

630. Prof. Faraday arose in the arena and made his writing 
No. 22. (2664.) But Sam still continued manipulating the large 
trumpet up against the ceiling in horizontal position, and some 
other spirit, or party, took the other large horn, which was 
on the floor outside the cabinet at the southeast corner, there 
being just room at this point to raise the cloth forming the east 
wall of the cabinet so as to take the horn underneath into the 
cabinet. So this trumpet was taken by someone in the cabinet, 
and the large end of it thrust out at the bottom of the cabinet 
door. This person we understood to be Fritzie. Sam would 
scold Fritzie for making such a racket, and Fritzie would excuse 
himself, saying: "I was just playing." To which Sam replied: 
"Children may be seen, but not heard so much." 

When Faraday had gone and Sam and Fritzie had returned 
the horns to their places and got quiet, 

631. A stranger to us arose in the arena, having the cos- 
tume of some antique tutor, took up a tablet, and asked for a 
rule or straight-edge, which Mr. Clark found and handed to the 
spirit. 

632. The spirit used the rule as though drawing lines on 
a leaf in the tablet, and in about one minute asked the secretary 



RENDING THE VAIL. \->\ 

to take hold of the leaf that the spirit was drawing upon, re 
questing that each corner of the paper be held by the secretary. 

033. This done, the spirit, holding the opposite corner of 
the paper and turning each corner to the secretary, then had 

the secretary examine the paper and announce its contents. On 
examination, there was found a drawing somewhat resembling 
an outline of our planetary system. 

On closer inspection, it is found more an outline of the evolu- 
tion of man, originally, from spirit ether, converging into one 
line, representing the atom, and this, continuing on the course 
given, concenters into the earth condition as protoplasm. 

034. The various planets are chosen by lines radiating from 
the earth. The first line being a life planet, then Uranus, the 
sun, Xeptune. A line from the earth, on which is marked the 
positions of spirit spheres to the number 7, and spirits from 
earth entering the spheres, Then Venus, Mars, Saturn, hq 
moon, and Jupiter. Lines are drawn from the various planets 
converging to a point far beyond our physical cosmic system. 
(See par. 1172.) 

030. Thomas Paine arose at his usual position in the arena, 
stood a moment, as if waiting for the announcement of a theme 
for discussion, and some one of the circle addressed the spirit 
thus: "Jus Tice says that 'the sun's rays form our coal-beds and 
all the flora and fauna existing.' Is there a vibratory force in 
Nature equal to accomplishing all that Keely claims? 7 ' 

Paine: "Keely is mistaken. That diagram, when you un- 
derstand it, will explain it all. It shows the road from spirit 
ether through the atoms, protoplasm, and evolution to indi- 
vidualized intelligence, and the road of such individuality to the 
spirit world. 

038. "With regard to coal, that has been talked of 
heretofore. 

038-J. "At the point designated the other day by the medi- 
um, there is gas and coal in sufficient quantities to supply your 
town for a long time. 

039. "The coal will be found 150 to 200 feet below the 
surface; and, in thickness, from two feet to three feet. 

"I am glad to be here and talk about these things." 
Here the spirit seemed unable to longer hold the form, and 
gradually dissolved, or faded away. 



Seance No. 65. 

July 7. 1891. 

040. Henry Lamb, of Parsons. Kas., present as a visitor. 

The spirits^ have advised us to construct our cabinet front 

of wood from floor to ceiling, cutting off the southwest corner 

of the room for the cabinet, having the west end of the south 



122 RENDING THE TAIL. 

wall and south end of the west wall of the room for the other 
sides of the cabinet, making the cabinet three-sided, triangular, 
and the arena as now ; a door in the center of the cabinet front ; 
the length of the said front being about 8 feet; the arena wire that 
holds up the arena curtain attached to the cabinet front at the 
north side of the cabinet door, and extending to the north wall 
of the room, 2\ feet from the west wall of the room and 2^ feet 
above the floor of the room; thus making the arena space, on 
the floor, 2J feet by 8 feet. 

641. Denton, after giving instructions about the cabinet 
construction as above set out, said: "Have you any question or 
subject?" 

Secretary: "Bro. House desires to know whether rheuma- 
tism is carbonic acid or carbonic acid gas ; and if not that, what 
it really is. This is hardly in your line, Professor, but you can 
get someone behind the curtains, if need be, to help you out." 

Spirit: "Just wait a moment." And retired behind the 
curtains. 

Immediately spirit Dr. Keed took Denton's place in the door, 
and, speaking in a loud whisper, said: 

642. "Rheumatism is not carbonic acid gas, but it is an 
acid, citric acid. This acid is obtained from the atmosphere; 
and, at times, in certain localities, is in greater abundance than 
at other times. 

"The electric condition of the atmosphere modifies, also. 
64.3. "Improper urinary, gastric, and alimentary action al- 
lows the acid to accumulate in the system. 

644. "An electric disturbance preceding visible or percep- 
tive change in weather intensifies citric depositions, causing more 
pain ; hence the rheumatic feels the coming weather change." 

As Reed passed back of the door curtains Denton reappeared 
in front of them in the cabinet doorway, and said: 

645. "That subject is not in my line; so I turned it over 
to the Doctor." Then he went on for a little time only, in oral 
effort No. 24. (2123.) 

Then there were illuminations, the light being turned very 
low for such purpose. 

646. Self-luminous forms moved about in the room, having 
costumes in variegated colors, most beautifully bedecked with 
silvery shining points, radiating luminous lines. The illumina- 
tions of the headdress were at times almost dazzlingly brilliant. 
We could discern some of these forms make up near our feet, 
rising up from the floor, head first, to adult size; and a few were 
so brilliant in self-luminosity that we could recognize them. 
Cleopatra and Rachel Diogenes were among the etherealization«. 

647. Then the controls ordered lights up again, full, when 
materializations were presented, among which Cleopatra, a very 
brilliant form, was presented standing in the cabinet door. 



BENDING THE VAIL. 123 

648. Emperor William rose up out of the Hour in the cabi- 
net door, developing as he rose into full form of regal attire; he 
stood a moment and then slowly descended down through the 
floor. 

649. We only know these ancients by what they say and 
who they say they are. 

650. We have learned, however, that when a spirit an- 
nounces who it was on earth known to be, that, as a genera] 
thing, it is as likely to be correct as any stranger we meet to be 
the person he says he is. In fact, identities have been proven 
here so many hundreds of times that it seems to us that asser- 
tions of these alleged spirits as to their identity are more reliable 
than those of persons in the mortal. But most spirits, at first 
appearance, give us some signal of evidence corroborative of their 
"ipse dixits." 

Seance No. 66. 

July 12, 1891. 

651. We now have the front of the cabinet of pine boards, 
solid, J of an inch thick, 8^ feet high, and 7 feet long, cutting off 
the southwest corner of the room for the cabinet; the floor 
dimensions of the cabinet are, therefore, south side 5 feet, west 
side 5 feet nearly, and the front 7 feet. No opening from the 
cabinet into the arena. (Diagram, 1170.) 

651J, The arena is formed by the west wall of the room, 
from the north end of the cabinet north 5 feet to the writing- 
desk, which desk forms the north end of the arena; the east side 
of the arena is a wire 2^ feet above the floor of the room, 24 feet 
from the west w T all, extending to the north casing of the cabinet 
door; a cloth is thrown loosely over this wire so as to reach the 
floor, or nearly to the floor. The arena space is therefore 2% 
feet wide and lo feet long, but the writing-desk is placed in this 
space at the north end, and generally 5 or 6 feet from the cabinet, 
and the spirit in the arena is nearly always between the cabinet 
and the writing-desk, with its right hand toward the cabinet, 
its left hand in reach of the writing-desk, and facing the circle. 

652. The medium is first entranced and taken or goes into 
the cabinet, claiming to be absolutely unconscious from the time 
of such entrancement until the close of the seance. 

653. Generally the chemical control. Dr. Reed, is the first to 
appear, and stands in the cabinet door, whispering, "Good-even 
ing, friends." He looks about over the room, and especially 
seems to look critically at each one of the circle; then he assumes 
a thinking attitude, as though arranging a programme for tin- 
evening, and retires back behind the door curtains into the cabi 
net. And the circle understands that this spirit does, when first 
out, arrange the evening programme. 



124 RENDING THE TAIL. 

654. On this occasion Bam was first on the programme, in 
the arena, talking to us as he alone can do. Among his sayings 
these: "Ya, ya; you dink you got the spirits dis time, hugh? 
Here I vas, here I vas." 

655. And while Samuel was talking and being seen and 
heard by all of the circle, there stood in the cabinet door a female 
form which all recognized as Mary House. 

056. The medium could not have gotten into the arena with- 
out being seen by all the circle to do so. He would have to come 
out at the cabinet door and go around the door shutter, between 
the shutter and the circle, and crawl under the arena wire, or 
climb or step high over it — unless his body endosmosed the cabi- 
net front. 

656. Then the form of Prof. Denton and that of a little 
girl stood side by side in the cabinet door for a moment, and 
then suddenly these two spirit forms vanished from our sight. 

657. iVnd immediately the form represented to us to be 
that of Rachel Diogenes, in illuminated attire, stood in the cabi- 
net door. This being the signal for etherealizations, we turned 
the light down very low, and saw shadowy forms, self-luminous, 
glowing and sparkling in garments appearing from head to foot 
to be set in diamonds, glittering as in bright light. 

658. Such forms, so clothed, made up and walked all about 
the room in front of the circle, as many as five at one time in 
different parts of the room. 

659. A very conspicuous form, bearing a light as if emanat- 
ing from a lamp, or small lantern, walked right up to Mr. House 
and the secretary and said: "This is what is left of Diogenes 
in search of an honest man." 

660. Then a form, seemingly a materialization, slightly 
self-luminous and very tall, walked over the floor with a heavy 
footstep, and said, "I am Cotubamana"; then walked to the cabi- 
net door and stood therein, and said, "Turn up the light"; which 
being done, there was revealed a large, tall male form, dressed 
in pure white, his feet upon the floor and his head against the 
door arch, which is 7J feet above the floor; the figure was some- 
what stooping, so that if straight the figure would have been 
more than 8 feet tall. 

661. The medium is only 5 feet 4-J- inches tall. 
"Elongation," you say. Now, why not stick to "humbug"? 

662. Then the chemical control, Dr. Reed, either passed 
through the solid cabinet wall, the wall of the house, came up 
through the solid floor into the arena, or made up the form in the 
arena, and wrote his No. 42, and descended as though down 
through the floor. (1449-1457.) 

663. Then Denton arose in the place where Reed stood to 
write, and while Denton stood and wrote (1831-J) at the desk, in 



BENDING THE VAIL. 125 

the arena, there stood a little child spirit form in the cabinet 
door. 

604. Denton vanished out of our sight, and suddenly 
Thomas Paine was in the arena, saying, in a loud, clear, and 
distinct tone of voice: 

''Good-evening-, friends. I am here again, and must con- 
gratulate you for furnishing us a new tabernacle. 

605. "This evening we have demonstrated to you that we 
can and do pass through what you call solid substance. 

"I should think this seance, to-night, a magnificent success 



Seance No. 67. 

July 14, 1891. 

000. Among the occurrences of this seance are tne 
following: 

Thomas Paine arose in the arena, and said to Mr. Peter- 
son, who assisted in building the new cabinet: "Young man, 
you thought you had us fastened out of this place, but here 1 
am." Then the spirit proceeded with his oral effort No. 23. 
(2521.) 

067. Denton, standing in the cabinet door, asked the secre- 
tary to hand him a tablet out of the desk. The spirit took the 
tablet handed him and wrote in it, tore the leaf with the writing 
from the tablet, laid the leaf on the table, and gave all to the 
secretary. Upon that leaf was Denton's writing No. 31. (At 
1834; engraving at 1179.) 

Seance No. 68. 

July 16, 1891. 

668. On this occasion materialization was most wonderful. 
Xo claims are set up here that the direct controls are of such 
exalted characters as to be considered beings worthy of all adora- 
tion. It is claimed only that they are men and women, richly 
endowed by Nature with a fitness for the work they do, as thus: 

009. Dr. Reed a chemist and artist of high order. 

670. Sam Schmidt a spirit of great mesmeric power. 

071. Mr. Aber's brother, Wesley, an expert in telegraphy. 

072. Raphael and Titian, sculptors and portrait artists. 

073. Denton, a scientist, etc. 

074. Spirits that were of high, low, and of every degree, as 
considered by mortals, are common visitors; but none except 
the direct controls are claimed to be lingering around at all 
times, and sometimes even they are away. 

075. This was illustrated the other evening by Col. Sam 
Wood, who presented himself, a remarkable personality, m some 
of the circle who were intimate with him while he was yet in the 
mortal. These friends had much conversation with this spirit. 
The spirit, speaking in very good oral tones of voice, said that he 



126 KEND1XG THE VAIL. 

was a Spiritualist before he was murdered, and was much better 
prepared for the great change than a great many are; that he 
found the spirit life much more realistic than he had expected, 
that he would not now, if he could, exchange places with any 
mortal; that the spirit home, so far as he has yet seen, is ex- 
ceedingly glorious; that he has now no regrets as to his transition, 
except on account of the bereavement of his poor wife; that when 
he thinks of her, he feels enraged against his assassins. 

676. That often, during his life on earth, he had narrow 
escapes, but was always hitherto, rescued by his guardian band;, 
but that, on this occasion, his strong band appeared to be away;* 
his time had come, and he was ushered into spirit life just in 
the way he was; and, only for his poor wife, he is glad of it. 

677. We were also favored with visible forms, seriatim, of 
Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, U. S. Grant, George Wash- 
ington, John Adams, James Monroe, and Henry Clay. 

678. These illustrious personages talked but little, though 
each one announced his own name. We were also enabled to 
recognize all except Clay and Garfield by their resemblance to 
portraits we had seen of them. 

679. When we asked Clay to present himself to us in the 
attitude of addressing the United States Senate as given of him 
both by portrait and word description, he stepped right out of the 
cabinet door in front of us a veritable facsimile of Henry Clay 
in such senatorial attitude, and when we expressed our satisfac- 
tion of his identity, he seemed overjoyed. 

680. We were not, at first, certain in the case of Adams, 
which one. He said: "John Adams." Then he stood outside 
the cabinet door so clearly resembling his common portrait that 
all the circle seemed satisfied. 

681. Garfield and Grant both presented even brilliant, 
sparkling eyes. Garfield said: "I was shot at Washington and 
the doctors finished me. So you know me, standing before you, 
as James A. Garfield, a monument to medico-surgical skill." 
Grant was dressed in military attire, not one particle of which, 
as material, could have been in the cabinet; and, perhaps, not in 
the house. These forms were all of different heights, sizes, and 
physiognomies, and all of them taller than the medium. 

682. The voice of Sam in the cabinet ordered the light 
turned down; and, right away, etherealization of an exceedingly 
brilliant character occurred. 

683. The first one, emerging from the cabinet curtains all 
glittering with silvery lights from head to foot, walked out to 
within 2l : feet of the circle directly in front of the cabinet, where 
all the circle could distinctly see the face and white attire set as 
with burnished jewels. 

*"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani? " (Mark xv. 34.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 127 

684. He said: "If you had lived in the time and plate that 
I did, they would have burned you at the stake as they did me; 
but you can say to them that the martyr Bruno yet lives, and 
no faggots can burn his influence in teaching the world how ii 
has been enslaved in dungeons of ignorance." (See 578.) 

085. Then appeared a self-luminous female figure, with 
starry coronal and pure white dress, set as if in diamonds, glit- 
tering in the light of foot-lamps, and a dazzlingly white lily form 
upon the breast — and we distinctly heard the voice of Sam in 
the cabinet: "Behold the Maid of Orleans." Then the form 
descended, as down through the floor, out of our sight. 

686. Then a form came out of the cabinet, brilliantly self- 
shining, saying: "They may burn me at the stake if they will, 
yet, whatever I may say, the world still moves, and Galileo still 
lives." Then the spirit vanished out of our sight. 



Seance No. 69. 

July 19, 1891. 

687. Aaron Markley, of Topeka, Kas., and Louis Hull and 
wife, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., present as visitors. 

This seance presented us a great deal of genuine phenomena, 
but mostly for the special benefit of the visitors, and so nearly 
like such experiences already of record that we omit all save the 
writing of Denton and Keed. 

688. The visitors, in the presence of the circle, examined 
the writing-desk and all the tablets therein found, and reported 
there to be no writing of any kind in any of the tablets; they 
then placed all back into the desk and locked the desk, and Mr. 
Hull kept the desk key until after the seance. 

At length a form rose up in the arena, distinctly seen by all 
the circle, walked about in the arena, went to the desk as an 
ordinary person would, unlocked the desk, raised the lid, and 
let it fall again. 

689. This form appeared like a man of common size, and, 
having unlocked the desk, stepped to near the cabinet and van- 
ished from our sight. 

While this form was in the arena, a female figure dressed 
in white was standing in the cabinet door, but was gone when 
the man form vanished. 

690. Then immediately a form arose from the floor, at the 
desk, took a tablet from the desk, wrote in the tablet, tore the 
leaf out of the tablet, laid it on the tablet and the tabid on the 
desk, and the spirit dematerialized downwards. 

691. While this writing was being done, a small boy form 
was standing in the cabinet door, but at the close of tie- writing 
it stepped back of the cabinet door curtains into the cabinet 



128 RENDING THE TAIL. 

691-J. Immediately another rose to full form, the appearance 
of a man, and took and wrote in the same tablet that the other 
had written in, tore a leaf out, wrote a little more and tore out 
the leaf of writing, put all together, laid it on the desk, and 
passed down through the solid floor out of sight. 

092. During this writing the whole circle observed several 
male and female forms, large and small, one after another, ap- 
pear in and disappear from the cabinet door. 

(a) The first writing was signed "Denton," and is his No. 
32. (1834.) 

(I) The second writing was signed "Dr. Reed," and is his 
No. 43. (1458 (c).) 

Seance No. 70. 

July 21, 1891. 
693. A form made up in the cabinet door, which was recog- 
nized by Mrs. House as Warren Chase. 

(a) The spirit answered her: "I cannot shake hands with 
you at this time, but hope to be able to do so after a while. 

(b) "I come here to try to do good for the world. When 
ever you are trying to enlighten humanity, you are doing good. 

(c) "Great changes are taking place man dreams not of, 
destined to affect the whole world." 

(d) Bro. House had remarked that he could not see the 
forms this evening as clearly as common, but could not tell the 
reason. To this Chase said: 

094. "You cannot see so well at times as you can at other 
times because the retina of your eyes is overtaxed from reading, 
or steadily gazing too long at an object, or affected by too much 
or too strong light. This renders your powers of vision variable. 
Our appearances here are the same. The cause of your not being 
so able at one time as another to recognize is with yourselves. 

"Oh, it 's a grand thing to be able to come back in this way 
and bring to our friends tidings of the glorious home of the soul! 

(a) "We cannot express as well as we desire. It is a hard 
matter to make these forms in which we appear so substantial 
as to be able to utter speech at all; but we come to you just the 
same, in spite of all obstacles that have to be overcome. 

(Jb) "We come to show to you and to the world the gateway 
to the spirit world, so that all the flocks of children of men may 
better prepare to pass through those gates to where the pastures 
are perennially green." 

695. Then a brilliant materialization stood in the cabinet 
door and said: "I am John Pierpont. I attend the Banner of 
Light seances, but I can come here as well as there. Brother 
Chase is a grand good man. He has been a martyr to this glori- 
ous cause. But he is feeling rewarded now, in that he, with us, 
can see that our work, though sometimes over thorny roads, is 
not lost, but that with our souls goes marching on." 



REM D1NQ THE VAIL. \>nj 

096. When Chase bad gone, E. V. Wilson, clearly 1 
nized by us all, stood forth in the cabinet door in his great manly 
form, saying: "I am one of those old patrons, too." 

097. After Wilson, Thomas Paine stood in the cabinet door- 
way, very plainly visible, and was instantly recognized by all the 
circle present, and spoke to us, in his usually clear, strong tone 
of voice, his oration Xo. 24. (2531.) 

698. A form not known to any of us stood forth in brilliant 
illumination; and, directing his attention to the secretary, said: 
"I am Copernicus, the astronomer, and am one of your guides." 

699. This was followed by a form more brilliant, which 
stood in the cabinet door and, pointing toward the secretary, 
said: "I, also, am one of your guides. I am Demosthei 

700. Then another illumination said to Mr. House: u l am 
Cicero. Sometimes I am near you." 

701. This alleged Cicero was followed by one that said, 
"I am Cortez," and spoke right on for several minutes, but we 
could not interpret his speech. This was a large, tall figure — 
at least six feet in height. 

702. And at last, of these illuminated materializations, one 
claiming to be Buddha stood to our full view in the cabinet door. 

703. From the fact that this form, with many others of 
esoteric thought of the ancient Orientals, frequently appears be- 
fore us, and that at such seances Paine, Denton, and others are 
led to discuss the relative merits of creeds and religious forms, 
the secretary ventures the following statement: 

(a) This spirit Buddha claims to be the personality known 
in history by the name of Gautama, who lived during the fifth 
century B. C., and who was the founder of the religious system 
of the Orient known as Buddhism, and who is also known by the 
name of Buddha. 

(fr) It is presumed that one object of introducing the differ- 
ent characters that have figured largely in shaping and modify- 
ing the religions and religious thought of the world is that the 
modern psychic student may have presented to the mind an 
incentive to investigate and compare the different claims set 
out in the world's history, and thereby determine for himself the 
relative merits of modern Spiritualism. Hence, for the benefil 
of such readers hereof as may desire "expansion" along these 
lines, we venture discussion and references that may tend to 
lead the way, although this scribe has but a very superficial 
knowledge himself of the great religious systems. Buddhism, 
Brahminism, Mohammedanism, Christianity, and others; yd. 
from encyclopedias (the American, the People's, the Britannica) 
and various other sources of aggregated information, we may 
learn much in little time. But the principal matter thai this 
writter has to present and suggest is the result of the teaching 
these alleged spiritual apparitions and beings. 



130 BEN DIN a TEE VAIL. 

(c) As we pursue our investigations we find the central 
dogma of nearly all religious systems is that of a savior. As 
Jesus the Christ is the savior of some 300,000,000 nominal 
Christians, so Buddha is the savior of or to 450,000,000 Bud- 
dhists, and Vishnu, the second person of the Hindoo trinity, is the 
great preserver or savior of some 300,000,000 Brahmins. 

(d) While Buddhism seems agnostic as to a personal God, 
the student soon discovers much in common between the person- 
ages Buddha the savior and Christ the savior, thus: 

Both immaculate. 

Neither had an earthly father. 

Both omniscient. 

Both, at birth, attended by angels. 

The Buddha descended from heaven of his own accord, into 
his mother's womb. 

The Christ, from God in heaven, by the help of the Holy 
Ghost, did the same thing. 

At birth Buddha immediately walked three steps, and in a 
voice of thunder proclaimed his own greatness, and a prophet 
declared the babe to be a "Buddha," a savior, to show the way 
of salvation. 

Good old Simeon said: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant 
depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have seen 
thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all 
people." "This child is set for the fall and rising again of many 
in Israel." 

Gautama the savior at five months of age meditated so pro- 
foundly that he fell into a trance; and five wise men, journeying 
through the air, were stopped over the entranced child and sang 
a wonderful song as they worshiped, saying: "The babe shall 
be the teacher of a law which shall be to extinguish all the fires 
of the sorrows of life; the light to enlighten the world; the 
chariot to carry his people through the wilderness to the prom- 
ised land, and deliver men from the bonds and shackles of the 
world; and be the great physician to heal their diseases and do 
away with the misery of life and death." 

Of Christ the angel said unto them: "Fear not: for, behold, 
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which 
is Christ the Lord," "a light to lighten the Gentiles." And sud- 
denly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, 
praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on 
earth peace, good-will toward men." 

Gautama disputed with the wise men, showing superior 
wisdom. 

So of Christ. 

Gautama began public teaching at the age of twenty-nine. 

Jesus began to teach at about the age of thirty. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 131 

Gautarna was tempted of and contended with the evil spirit 
forty-nine days. 

And Jesus forty days. 

The tempter ottered Gautama the four kingdoms of the 
world. 

The devil offered Jesus the kingdoms of all the world. 

Buddha preached on the mount. 

Christ preached on a mount. 

Buddha had his beloved desciple. 

So had Christ. 

Buddha performed miracles and healed the sick, much as 
did Christ. 

Gautama came down from the bosom of Nirvana, and went 
back into Nirvana, to come again. 

Christ came down from the bosom of the Father, and re- 
turned to the Father's right hand, to come again. 

Gautama came to restore and make pure that which had 
become impure and lost; to save men from their evil passions 
and unholy desires. 

Christ came to save that which was lost; to restore the lost 
sheep ; to save men from their sins. 

Buddha is God incarnate. 

Jesus Christ, since the Council of Nice, has been God 
incarnate. 

Webster tells us that Gautama is the fourth deific incarna- 
tion that has descended from Nirvana and been absorbed back 
into Nirvana, to return to another incarnation after a period of 
several thousand years; and that it is left for Buddhists to wor- 
ship images and relics of Gautama until Buddha shall again be- 
come incarnate. 

But Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, is the 
only self-incarnation of God; but he. too, must be worshiped in 
ideal image until, at some time within many thousands of years, 
he shall return to receive to himself from their graves his faith- 
ful worshipers, and meet in the air those not yet gone to the tomb, 
and consign to endless hell or annihilation those who refuse t<> 
worship him. 

When a student has reached this point, he begins to wonder 
which, if either, alleged deific incarnation is the true one, and 
how it is that the alleged incarnations of God found in Legends 
of the Orient, and said to have occurred at least four hundred 
years before God incarnated himself at the city of David, art- a I! 
false and mythical, while that one at the city of David is true. 
And if it is idolatry to worship one alleged incarnation of God, 
what is it to worship another and later alleged deific incarnation, 
supported by precisely the same or weaker legendary matter? 
What is the difference between worshiping a theological ideal 
image set out in words and worshiping the same ideal set out in 



132 RENDING THE VAIL. 

sculpture? In either case the same image is discerned by the 
worshiper's mind. (See the Encyclopedia Britannica, on the 
whole matter.) 

Seance No. 11. 

July 26, 1891. 

704. P. V. Sargent, of Independence, Mo., a visitor, seemed 
to claim the attention of Denton, the spirit saying to Mr. Sargent : 
"We have met before, while I was yet in the physical, at Bismarck 
Grove." 

Sargent: "Yes, sir; I saw you at Bismarck." 

(a) Some others of Mr. Sargent's friends were presented in 

materialized form which Mr. Sargent seemed able to recognize — 

some at sight, some after conversation. 

705. One who had appeared to us before as Epes Sargent 
appeared at this time and claimed relationship to Mr. Sargent. 
As the spirit stood and talked face to face with this man as man 
talks with man, the whole scene was very realistic to us. 

706. Then Denton stepped outside the cabinet and held the 
door curtains to one side, saying: "I want you all to see in here. 
There sits the medium in the cabinet in that chair, and by his 
side in that other chair sits a lady and I am standing here. Mr. 
House, get out there where you can see. Mr. Secretary, come 
close up here and look in. All of you, every one, come and see.' 
I want this thing settled, whether it is I or the medium. Do 
you all see? Do you see the medium in that chair? Do you see 
this lady in this chair beside him? And, at the same time, here 
am I." 

General response: "Yes, yes, we see." 

But Mr. House: "I don't see clearly." 

Denton: "Get right up here, so you can see." 

Mr. House then got near to the cabinet door and exclaimed: 
"I see now! Well, isn't that splendid? Yes, Professor, I see 
all three of you." 

Denton: "Mrs. House, get right round here, so you can see 
better." 

Mrs. House: "Oh, yes; I see the medium and the lady in 
there." 

Denton: "All the rest of you, one at a time, come right up 
here." 

When all had thoroughly seen, Denton said: 

707. "I hope that is demonstration enough. Are you all 
satisfied?" 

All answer: "Yes, we are, Professor." 

And then Denton stepped into the cabinet and let the cur- 
tains close the door. 

In this case the voice and attitude of the spirit Denton were 
precisely similar to the voice and demeanor of an earnest school- 



REXDIMt THE VAIL. J 33 

teacher endeavoring to demonstrate to bis pupils some great 
truth. 

70S. Spirit Dr. Reed made his writing No. 44. in ."3(1 seconds, 
442 words; nearly 9 words per second. (1459-1468.) 

Reed descended as though passing down through the floor, 
and as he was going doAvn 

709. Spirit Denton was arising as if through the floor from 
the room below. When at full form, he seized a tablet and 
wrote with great rapidity four pages, respectively, in 8, 7, !) and 
6 seconds, tearing each leaf, when done, from the tablet, review- 
ing it and laying it in the tablet desk; then he went down out 
of sight as quick as a flash. 

710. This was 380 words in 30 seconds, or the rate of 700 
words per minute, 12 2-3 words per second. Reader, think of : he 
amazing rapidity with which Denton makes this writing No. 33. 
(1838.) 

711. Prof. Faraday (2667) rose up, seized a tablet, wrote a 
page, tore the leaf of writing out, put the leaf and tablet in the 
desk, took another tablet, wrote upon a leaf of it, tore the leaf 
out, put both the leaf and tablet in the desk, and vanished our 
of our sight at 10 seconds from his first appearing; and we found 
the writing as in Faraday's Xo. 23, being 146 words in 10 seconds. 
or 14 3-5 words in 1 second. 

712. Here three full-form visible materializations appeared 
in quick succession, wrote, and vanished; they wrote all together 
956 words, tore the leaves written upon out of the tablets and 
placed the leaves of writing and the tablets in the desk, and all 
in the incredibly short time of 1J minutes or 90 seconds. 

This rapidity of execution of manuscript is as amazing as 
the velocity of thought across interstellar space. 



Seance No. 72. 

July 28, 1891. 

After the chemical control, Dr. Reed, opened the seance as 
is his custom, 

713. Prof. Denton parted the door curtains and walked out 
of the cabinet to a point just in front of the cabinet door, en- 
gaged at some length in a running social chat with the various 
members of the circle, and finally said to Mr. House: "Well, 
brother, what will you have?" 

House: "I always like to hear of the spirit world." 

Denton, replying, made his vocal effort No. 2127. 

There were no forms shown in the arena at this seance. 

Illuminated etherealizations are now getting to be, to us. 
a wonderful reality, most beautiful to behold; but no person can 
fullv realize them' without actual experience. 

'714. For this phase we turn the light down very low. We 



134 RENDING THE VAIL. 

have learned that etherealizations are self-luminous materializa- 
tions. But an etherealization may be of such luminous material 
as to be visible in the dark and not visible in light, because, while 
radiating light, it will not reflect light to our visual senses. 

715. These forms come out of the cabinet at the cabinet 
door, for the most part; but, as heretofore stated, some of them 
rise up from the floor anywhere in the room outside the cabinet. 
Their apparel is self-luminous and as full of sparkling, glittering 
lights as an unclouded sky at night-time. These forms are gen- 
erally sufficiently materialized to be able to write, to handle and 
move objects, as chairs and light furniture about the room, and 
have sufficiently formed larynx and vocal organs to be able to 
utter speech in a whisper and sometimes in a good oral tone. 

716. On this occasion one form, known to us as Dr. Black- 
more, stood in the cabinet door a moment, then walked out to 
the chair, placed his hands on the chair back, and shoved the 
chair ahead of him away out near to the lantern, his entire 
figure being neatly clothed with some lustrous material, all radi- 
ant as in full light. 

{a) This spirit seems to have the genius to collect and com- 
pound and fill the room with the most exquisitely delightful aro- 
matic odors from flowers and other aromatic substances in and 
about the room. 

(b) In passing this perfumery about the room the spirit 
utters a peculiar noise, similar to the blowing of a goose. Fre 
quently we catch the odors as the first indication of the presence 
of this spirit; in a moment more we hear the blowing, and then 
see a large phosphorescent light, which gradually unfolds to the 
full-form visible etherealization. After all this on this occasion, 
the spirit retired into the cabinet and in a moment came out 
again, moved the chair to a point just in front of the lantern, 
left it there, and retired. 

717. In a few seconds we observed a small, self-luminous, 
cloudy appearance, just rising from the floor at the point, about 
3 feet in front of the cabinet door, where the chair is usually 
placed. This nebulous appearance gradually rose, assumed the 
shape of a woman dressed in white, the entire dress all set as 
with sparkling diamonds, and glittering gems all through the 
hair, forming a brilliant starry coronal, thus presenting a female 
figure dressed in most gorgeous attire. 

"Give us your name, please?" 

718. "Hypatia. Tell Mr. Walser that I am here and how I 
came." 

Then this figure went into the cabinet a moment, returned 
to the point where we had first seen her, and slowly descended, 
as though going down through the floor into the room below, 
until lost to our sight. (This Hypatia claims to be one of Mr. 
Walser's guardians.) 



READING THE VAIL. 135 

719. Then another female figure rose near the same point 
in the room, dressed in plain shining white, and by her side was 
the appearance of a little child, also in white. But we were 
not certain as to whether it was a child spirit. She led it into 
the cabinet, and in a moment returned with the child, having its 
head and face perfectly etherealized in golden colored radiations, 
showing its little head and features very plainly, the balance 
of the dress being of pure white. Then both forms slowly de- 
scended until the chins were both at the floor, and then the heads 
suddenly vanished. 

720. Sam came out of the cabinet in self-luminous attire, 
a w r hite scarf about his neck and chest, and a very large handker- 
chief in his right hand, which he held up to view. It, too, was of 
pure white, as the finest of Irish linen. 

The secretary held out his hands and asked Sam to stroke 
them with the cloth, which Sam did in a very lively manner. The 
sensation to the touch was as a smart blow of any fine cloth. 

721. Sam said: "This is a specimen of the cloth with which 
we are clothed. It is angel cloth, ethereal luminous pongee.'* 

722. The reader will understand that some repetitions are 
made herein, that the nature of the phenomena may be kept 
before him to a better understanding of the matter in context; 
and he will further remember that herein is given an account 
of but a tithe of the phenomenal matter of these seances, and 
that the principal phenomena were repeated very many times 
at different seances, and under every manner of test conditions 
that we could possibly devise. 



Seance No. 73. 

July 30, 1891. 
723. This seance continued to some extent the etherealiza- 
tions and materializations heretofore mentioned, of which one 
more case is here given because of a little peculiarity attending 
it. A spirit known to us by the name of Mother Jenkinson (be- 
ing the mother of Mrs. House) appeared in the room with a gown 
of light blue, calicoed in deep blue. This spirit whispered: "See 
my new dress — 'my Sunday go-to-meeting dress,' as we used to 
say." 

(a) Mrs. House: "Why, mother! You are all fixed up Dice 
to-night." 

Spirit: "Yes, daughter; I have a new white dress — let me 
show you." 

(b) Then, stepping behind the cabinet door curtains, in a 
moment she reappeared in garments all of pure white. 

(c) Mrs. House: "Oh. mother! That is so nice! Where 
do you get all that nice goods?" 



136 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

(d) Spirit: "We have nice goods here for our clothing/' 
Then she retired into the cabinet. 

The voice of Sam cried out: "That is that pongee goods." 

724. Then the chemical control sent out to us two illumi- 
nated forms, one as Cato, the other as Aristotle. 

725. When these two forms had faded away, suddenly, we 
knew not whence, stood in front of the cabinet door, to our view, 
Thomas Paine, who proceeded to make his oration No. 25 (2539), 
"The Great, the Wonderful Judgment." (2541-2555.) 

Seance No. 74- 

August 1 and 2, 1891. 

726. Visitors: Mr. Beadles and wife, of Eureka, Kas., and 
Mr. Hartung and daughter, of Wellsville, Kas. 

The spirit forms were not so brilliant either evening as at 
other times. 

727. But Prof. Denton, standing in the cabinet door, spoke 
in a conversational way, to questions propounded mostly by Mr. 
Beadles, in regard to reincarnation, origin of life, and of indi- 
vidualized man, as he and other spirits often had done before; 
then, enlarging, he made his oration No. 27. (2129.) 

728. When Denton had retired, Sam stood in the door and 
said: "Mr. Nixon, get that writing-desk around here in front." 

(a) The writing-desk, during the past three months, has 
been used wholly in the arena; but now, by virtue of Sam's 
order, is placed in front of the cabinet door, leaving a space be- 
tween the desk and cabinet front of about 4 feet. 

729. The tablets were examined at this seance by the vis- 
itors, and by them placed in the desk and pronounced clean. 

730. Dr. Beed then came out of the cabinet to the writing- 
desk and asked what we would have him write about. We sug- 
gested "The Beginning of the Union of Soul and Body." 

Bead said: "Well, let us see," and, with his usual rapidity, 
wrote and retired; but, instead of writing on the proposed sub- 
ject, he made this writing his No. 45, in continuation of former 
writings. (1469-1474.) 

731. As Beed retired Denton rushed right out of the cabi- 
net, passing Beed, to the desk, seized a tablet, wrote on two 
leaves, tore them from the tablet, placed the leaves and tablet 
in the desk, and at the end of 16 seconds retired into the cabinet. 
This being his writing No. 34. (1849.) There were 221 words; 
rate, 824 words per minute. 

732. Then one stepped out of the cabinet to the desk, an- 
nounced the name of Toms Nixon, and wrote thus of the treat- 
ment of criminals: 

"We have often heard discussed the punishment of a 
murderer. 



RENDING THE VAIL. \$~ 

"Let me say, friends, that it will be solved here. Persons 
bom with evil tendencies and who are unsafe should be cop 
fined for a material life, if the case warrant it. The confinement 
should be for the protection of society, also that the crime may 
not be repeated. 

"When the people realize that sending spirits to spirit life 
is no punishment for them, because the spirit after execution is 
not dead, but alive and active, and can do more harm in this 
sphere than in yours, we hope the Government will adopt a new 
system of punishment, so as to educate the criminals and make 
them fit spirits to dwell in spirit life before sending them 
here. (203.) 

(Signed) "Toms Nixon." 

733. This spirit, after tearing this leaf out, examined rhe 
writings of Reed and Denton, then handed all the papers to the 
secretary, one paper at a time, placed the tablets in the desk, 
and stepped back into the cabinet. 



Seance No. 75. 

August 8, 1891. 

734. Three childlike forms in the arena and an adult female 
form in the cabinet door at the same time were visible to the 
circle. 

735. Thomas Paine rose up in the arena, opened the desk, 
took therefrom what we know as the large tablet, moved toward 
the cabinet into the shadow of the cabinet door shutter, and then 
moved and stood out of the shadow, and spoke at some length, 
but mostly touching matter which he had heretofore discuss* ><1. 

While this spirit was talking in the arena, three female 
forms, one at a time, of different heights, sizes, and costumes, 
stood in the cabinet door, but these spirit forms were not recog- 
nized by any of the circle. 

736. When these had all vanished, Prof. Denton stood forth 
in the cabinet door, holding in his hand the large tablet thai 
Paine had taken from the desk, and wrote therein, tore from th<> 
tablet the leaf upon which be had written, folded it once length- 
wise and twice crosswise, put it in the tablet, and retired into 
the cabinet, taking with him the tablet. 

737. Then Dr. Reed appeared in the cabinet door, holding 
in his hand the tablet in which Denton had writ leu. and wrote 
therein with his usual rapidity, upon two leaves, tore them ont, 
examined them, and asked the secretary for an eraser, saying: 
"I have made a mistake or two." The secretary handed to t In- 
spirit a pencil with an eraser attached. The spirit imitated the 
erasing of two or three words and wrote the desired correction 
with the pencil, looked over and corrected Denton's writing in 
the same manner, handed the pencil back to the secretary, placed 



138 RENDING J HE VAIL. 

the three leaves in the tablet, and handed the tablet to the sec- 
retary, who laid the tablet in the chair in front of the cabinet, all 
in the sight of the entire circle; and Mr. Beadles took the tablet 
and held it to the close of the seance. 

738. On examination of the three papers, found in the 
tablet, and identifying the points where such papers were torn 
from the tablet, thus identifying the papers as the same three 
upon which Denton and Reed so wrote as above described, we 
found Denton's writing No. 35 (1853), and Reed's No. 46 (1475- 
1479). 

739. One item more of this seance may be worthy of inser- 
tion here: When Thomas Paine was standing in the cabinet door, 
engaged in a social all-around chat with us, in answer to the ques- 
tion as to whether or not there be propagation of human species 
in spirit life, he made his oral effort No. 26. (2566.) 



Seance No. 76. 

September 20, 1891. 

740. After five weeks' absence, on account of the Liberal, 
Mo., camp-meeting, we are at home again, but the constant use 
of the mediumship for slate messages, photography, and material- 
ization at the camp occasions necessary medial recuperation; 
therefore this seance furnishes but little matter likely to be of 
interest to the student of psychic phenomena. 

There were, however, some ten good materializations in the 
arena, and some forms in the cabinet door. 

741. At length Dr. Reed took from the desk a tablet, wrote 
upon one leaf in the tablet, tore that leaf out of the tablet, folded 
the leaf once, and gave the same to the secretary, who gave it to 
Mr. House, and Mr. House retained the paper in the sight of the 
circle until the seance closed. This writing is Reed's effort No. 
47. (1480-1481.) 

742. As Reed dematerialized downwards a form we did not 
recognize arose in the place where Reed had just left, took the 
tablet and wrote, tore the writing from the tablet, and gave it 
to the secretary, and he to Mr. House. At the close of the 
seance, we found the writing to be thus: 

"Every man is, happily, created with an instinct and desire 
to help his fellow-man. These principles are the key to immor- 
tality: for no Supreme Power can save a man or woman from 
destruction ; but his own desire for self, and kindly love of spirits 
whom you may attract, will save man and woman from a down- 
ward career in the spirit world. 

(Signed) "John Pierpont." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 139 

Seance No. 77. 

September 22, 1891. 

743. Dr. Willis, of Kokoiiio, Iud., Mrs. Dayton, of Spring 
Hill, Kas., Mrs. Stonenian, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mrs. Maynor, 
of Kansas City, present as visitors. 

The materializations were very good, there being twenty- 
five of them. 

Some of Mrs. Stoneman's spirit friends very completely 
identified themselves, to her entire satisfaction. 

744. Spirit Denton appeared in the cabinet door, and, to the 

question, "Did you hear that discourse of Mr. W at Liberal 

the other day, as touching life, and its origin and manifesta- 
tions, etc.?" 

745. Denton: "Yes, sir. I think he rather got ahead of 
himself. However, his speech was only theory. No one can 
tell of the spirit and spirit life until he gets here." And he pro- 
ceeded with his effort No. 28, as at par. 2149. 

746. Then one Dr. Des (Dauce), a Swede, who has learned 
to speak English, brokenly, yet so we can understand him, stood 
forth in the cabinet door and said: 

"In spirit life we need no medium; but when we would ap- 
proach your atmosphere and be known to you, we must have 
a medium. Neither do we need medicine or physicians over here ; 
everlasting health — no sickness — no dying, as with you. 

(a) "This is a nice country. I would much rather be here 
than with you, even if I could have my choice. 

(b) "We all have our mission to fill. The destiny of each 
one is inexorably fixed. No two destined alike. If destined 
to accident, you cannot change the destiny; you cannot help it; 
you must go that way. 

(c) "You are on earth to decay, but the spirit never decays, 
never dies; but lives in one eternal morning." 



Seance No. 78. 

September 27, 1891. 

747. Miss Stonenian, of Cleveland, Ohio, Mrs. Wood, widow 
of the late Col. Sam Wood, Dr. Willis, of Kokomo, Ind., W. L. 
Willis, of Springfield, Mo., G. P. Clark, of Topeka, Kas., R M. 
Staunton, of Shadron, Neb., and Miss Maynard, of Kansas City, 
Mo., present as visitors. 

748. There was a seance of September 24, 1891, for the spe- 
cial benefit of Mrs. Wood, but most persons of this seance were in 
the circle on that occasion. Then Col. Sam Wood was a most 
magnificently realistic materialization, being at once recognized 
by his widow, Mrs. Wood, to her great joy and satisfaction. He 
conversed, at great length, with her. in good, clear oral speech, 
concerning the assassination, and their home life; giving to her, 



140 RESD1NG THE TAIL. 

besides his wonderfully realistic materialization, many evidences 
of Ms identity; giving her much advice as to what she should 
do in the future, and how he is able, yet, to care for her and assist 
her to bear life's burdens. 

This seance (of September 27th) was a phenomenal success. 

749. We have just so arranged the seance lantern that the 
spirits in the cabinet can control the light, and in this fact Sam 
and the other controls seem to take an especial interest. 

750. Spirit Denton, standing in the cabinet door, spoke at 
some length in good, loud oral discourse, touching a definition 
of psychometry; and also descanting, in answer to a question, 
of the cause of rain, making his discourse No. 29. (2174.) 

751. Then there came out of the cabinet into the room a 
materialization representing that he was a citizen of Indiana, 
near Kokomo; that Dr. Willis was acquainted with him there; 
that he had a very sore leg at one time, and that Dr. Willis gave 
him a prescription which greatly relieved him. He looked about 
the room as though bewildered, and asked: "Where am I?" 

One of the circle asked him: "Don't you know?" 

Spirit: "No. What kind of place is this?" 

Answer: "A place where spirits and mortals meet to talk 
with each other." 

Spirit: "Is that so? Well, what am I?" 

Answer: "Aren't you a spirit?" 

Spirit: "I am like I always was. This is strange to me." 

Answer: "Did you never know anything about it before?" 

Spirit: "No. I don't understand it." 

Question: "How did you get here?" 

Spirit: "Came with that gentleman. Dr. Willis." 

Question: "How did you get in here?" 

Spirit: "This is a strange place to me. You look strange. 
What State is this, anyway?" 

Answer: "This is Kansas." 

Spirit: "Well, if they do this way in Kansas, I'm going 
right back to Indiana. Good-bye." And the spirit returned 
into the cabinet. 

752. Then Dr. Reed came out at the cabinet door, and 
passed around the door shutter, partly closed it, descended as 
though through the floor at the arena curtain, instantly arose 
on the opposite side of the curtain, in the arena, at the writing- 
desk, unlocked the desk, took one or two tablets to the north 
side of the cabinet, descended out of sight, immediately arose in 
front of the arena curtain, walked around the cabinet door shut- 
ter, and backed into the cabinet. (W^e saw no tablet in his 
hands after he descended in the arena until he again came out 
at the cabinet door.) 

753. Thomas Paine then came out and stood in the door, 
and made his oral effort No. 27. (2567.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 141 

754. When Paine had vanished from our sight, one claiming 
to be Patrick Henry stood in the cabinet door and said: "I was 
America's friend. I am now a friend to America; and my voice 
is, if they will worship a God, let the American flag be that God." 
He then returned into the cabinet. 

755. Then an unrecognized form appeared in the arena, 
wrote, and vanished. 

756. Then Dr. Reed came out of the cabinet, having a tablet 
in his hand ajid also a paper. He gave the paper to Mr. House, 
saying: "Mr. Pierpont told me to give you this." 

Then Reed held his tablet in his left hand and wrote with 
his usual rapidity on one leaf, tore it out, and gave it to Mr. 
House, saying: "Compliments of Dr. Reed." He then dropped 
the tablet on a chair in front of the circle, and backed into the 
cabinet. 

757. Mr. House retained the two papers in his hand in 
sight of the circle to the close of the seance, and we found the 
writing of the Pierpont papers to be thus: 

758. "This is indeed a golden opportunity to help a noble 
cause like this in its struggles against overwhelming odds. 
Every unselfish endeavor in this direction brings sure reward. 
Your efforts may indeed seem insignificant; but if this society 
works as one man for the elevation of the whole human race, 
when every worker becomes such, in truth, the whole society 
triumphs: for such is the law of harmony under the reign of your 
brotherhood. 

"Every inquirer must judge for yourself. This is the 
criterion. 

"There are thousands going to death daily, with no one to 
tell of all this. Now you must look on death with unfaltering 
heart. 

(Signed) "Jonathan Pierpont" 

Reed's paper the reader will find as his writing No. 48. 
This writing closes with the words "your passion of," which 
shows the subject not completed, and so, when the spirit handed 
this paper to Mr. House, he said: "I will continue this subject 
at another time. You will find it not finished here." 

759. In this case the whole circle could see the waiting 
being done, could see the leaves torn from the tablets, could see 
the tablets laid down on the chair, and could see them there 
during the remainder of the seance. All carefully inspected to 
see that the leaves of writing exactly fitted the place torn from, 
and all had examined the tablets just before the seance began, 
so that it was almost or quite impossible for there to have been 
any deception, delusion, or collusion practiced on the circle as to 
the genuineness of these two writings. (1482-1486.) 



-10 



142 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Seance JSfo. 79. 

October 1, 1891. 

760. There were several full-form materializations and bril- 
liant illuminations. 

Three female forms, clad in pure white, all recognized. 

Two female forms at the same time. 

One female form holding an infant in arms. One of the 
circle recognized the lady that held the infant form, and, by 
questions as to the infant, soon recognized the case as having 
all occurred several years ago, and then remarked: "I should 
think that child would have grown to a woman ere this." 

761. The spirit holding the infant answered: "Oh, yes. 
Now, see it grow.'' Immediately the infant stood on the floor 
and began growing taller and taller and filling out until it stood 
before us the natural size of a girl of the age of fifteen or sixteen 
years. Then both spirits returned together into the cabinet. 

702. We now have a shade by which the spirits may, and 
do, modify the light in the room to suit themselves. A slide is 
arranged inside the lantern to move up or down as desired, a 
string is attached to this slide and carried over pulleys into the 
cabinet, Avhere the controls take hold of the string and by a 
pull raise the slide to make the room darker and let the slide 
down to increase the light. 

7G3. While a spirit form stands out in the room so that 
all the circle plainly see the face, hands, and feet of the form 
so standing, some force inside the cabinet manipulates this light- 
regulator. 

761. If it were the medium out in the room, as some claim 
who do not investigate, what is it on the inside of the cabinet 
that handles this shade by means of the string for that purpose? 

765. For the first time in several weeks, Father King is 
with us again, taking the trumpet and talking through it with 
his accustomed force of voice. Then he put the trumpet down, 
and talked very loudly and with great volume of voice without 
the use of the trumpet, in sarcasm toward those of the clergy 
who denounce Spiritualism as naught but "free love," which 
caused us much merriment. 

766. As King retired Denton stepped out just in front of the 
door and gave us a talk in a loud, clear voice, in a very general 
conversational way, about organization and charters therefor, 
and the marriage relation, and the necessity of having our circles 
contain as much intellectuality as possible. 

767. Then Thomas Paine stood forth in the cabinet door, 
greeting us, as he has not done for some time, in his clear, round 
oral speech, exhorting us to be of good cheer; to keep right 
"square in the middle of the road; to keep right side up; to 
march right along as good people should, until we get on the 
spirit side of life, where no jealous bickerings are found to mar 
the peace and harmony of a well-attuned life." 



BENDING THE VAIL. . 143 

Seance No. SO. 

October 8, 1891. 

768. There arose one in the arena, not recognized by the 
circle, because of not having before seen him. 

This spirit took a tablet from the desk, wrote and tore a 
leaf from the tablet, and handed it to the secretary, saying: 
"You don't know me, I guess. Loan me your pencil, and I will 
write my name." 

The pencil being given to the spirit, he wrote on another leaf, 
tore it from the tablet and threw it on the floor at the feet of 
the circle, laid the tablet in the desk, and descended out of sight. 

769. Quickly another, Dr. Reed, arose in the arena, and 
made his writing No. 19. (1187.) 

770. As Reed descended Prof. Denton arose in the arena, 
and wrote, and threw two papers and the secretary's pencil on 
i he carpet between the arena and the feet of the circle, this 
writing being Denton's No. 36. (1856.) 

At the close of the seance, we found the writing of the un- 
recognized spirit to be this: 

771. "Friends, you have known people so careful in their 
seances that they did not have a manifestation of any real value, 
but they were always saying: 'Oh, we had such good tests! 
We did not get much, but what we did get was genuine.- And 
yet, everything that was called genuine any clever sleight-of- 
hand performer could do easily. People are not so easily de- 
ceived by others as by their own minds. So when you make 
seances fraud-proof, as you declare, it ofttimes proves to be only 
such as a clever conjurer could easily imitate and deceive you, 
because, having made your fraud-proof conditions, you are not 
on the alert. Everything is accepted as genuine. But the spirit 
world, not working in human ways, takes advantage of the pecu- 
liar human weakness to turn it into added proof. 

"These physical manifestations that occur in your world to- 
day are more powerful, more conclusive, more worthy of accept- 
ance, even by the outside doubting world, than ever before. 

"Not because the tests differ or are any better or any more; 
but because, even out of that which has been insisted upon with- 
in thp ranks of Spiritualism, as proof of fraud, the manifestations 
have been out-wrought, and the doubter and he who professes to 
expose fraud have been, in every instance, the ones exposed. 

"If you wish me to continue this at your next meeting, 
please state it in the presence of your circle. 

(Signed) ''Lorenzo AberP 

This is the name of the medium's father. 

Seance No. 81. 

October 11, 1891. 

772. The medium now generally gives a test seance, as a 
prelude to the regular seance. 



144 REXDIXG THE VAIL. 

That the reader may have some idea of these test proceed- 
ings, the minutes in full of this seance are given here. 

Mr. Aber sits in the cabinet door, having his face and feet 
out toward the center of the circle. A bandage is securely tied 
around each leg of the medium, at the knee, and strong tape tied 
and sewed around each wrist; the tape bandages of the wrists 
are securely sewed to the knee bandages, and all the bandages 
securely sewed to pants and coat sleeves, to the satisfaction of the 
circle. A little wheat flower, rice, or corn meal, as the circle 
desires, is put in the medium's hands. This time rice was placed 
in both of the hands of the medium. 

Then the front curtains of the cabinet door are pinned to- 
gether in front of the medium from feet to chin, leaving the feet 
and face of the medium in full view of the circle during the en- 
tire seance. A small bell, guitar, and small automatic music- 
box are on a small stand table inside of the cabinet, back of the 
medium. A large music-box is outside the cabinet, but near 
to it, so that it is partly hidden behind the front door curtain 
to the right of the medium. Someone of the circle winds the 
music-boxes and sets them going at first; after that, during 
the seance, the small box inside and the large one outside are both 
kept wound and going by some other person than anyone of the 
circle, and surely not the medium; the small box being wound 
ten or a dozen times and the large one five or six times during 
the seance by what this circle conclude must be none other than 
spirit force through a temporarily materialized form. 

The medium is entranced to entire unconsciousness, but his 
vocal organs are used by his controls for conversation. The 
guitar is thrummed to the time of music, and the small bell also 
rings to the music time. Independent voices in the cabinet are 
heard by the circle; these engage in conversation, as though two 
or three persons were in the cabinet talking to one another; these 
voices also engage in conversation with members of the circle. 

Articles, such as a bell, guitar, tin horn, small music-box, 
or any other article left or put in the cabinet by the circle, are 
thrust out of the cabinet over the medium's head. Hands are 
thrust out above the medium's head into the light. The face of 
a man, then of a woman, then of a child, are seen to be above 
the medium's head. At the same time one and sometimes two 
materializations are seen, in the arena, by the circle. A voice 
asks for a handkerchief. Each person of the seance dampens 
one and places it upon the medium's head. As each kerchief is 
placed upon the medium's head a materialized hand takes it into 
the cabinet, and in from thirty to fifty seconds all the kerchiefs so 
taken into the cabinet are thrust out over the medium's head into 
the room on the floor near the feet of the circle ; then the owner 
of each kerchief takes his own from the floor, and we find on one 
a writing, on another a name, on another a crayon portrait of 



RENDING THE VAIL. 145 

some person, and on each kerchief something written or sketched, 
or both; all done, however, in indelible penciling, done with a 
pencil furnished by the circle or the medium for the purpose. 
But the marvel is that the matter on each handkerchief is a 
memento apropos to the owner in memory of some departed 
friend. 

Though the medium is in sight of the circle the entire time, 
no movement of the medium is ever observed by anyone of the 
circle. Every member of the circle knows that no person is in 
the cabinet other than the medium in the door as described; that 
there is no chance, no possible chance, for confederates without 
the knowledge of every member of the circle. 

At this test seance several short messages were written on 
slips of paper handed into the cabinet in blank for the purpose, 
and as the writing of each slip was finished the slip was thrust 
out of the cabinet over the medium's head, and a voice within 
stated for whom and the contents; the paper was always found 
to correspond to what the voice said. Finally the voice in the 
cabinet directed that the curtains be removed and the medium 
examined, and the condition of the medium as to wrist and knee 
straps and sewing and the rice in his hands was found exactly 
as at the beginning of the seance, and not a particle of rice was 
found upon the floor. Then the persons who did the sewing cut 
the sewing of the straps with a knife and the medium was liber- 
ated; after a few minutes' refreshing, the medium sat at the cabi- 
net door, w r as entranced and taken into the cabinet, and the regu- 
lar seance went on. 

773. Prof. Denton, standing in the cabinet door, said: "I 
feel very much elated over the brilliant success of the seances so 
far this evening." 

774. Then Dr. Reed stood forth and said: "I am going to 
write some this evening concerning the God idea, and if my writ- 
ing should seem too radical to some of you, I can't help it." 

775. Then followed several materializations in the usual 
manner; after which Dr. Reed rose up in the arena, took a tablet, 
wrote on two leaves, tore them out, and placed them and the 
tablet on the desk; and as Reed went down out of our sight 
Prof. Denton arose at the desk, took a tablet and wrote on one 
leaf, tore it out, folded it up, and held it several minutes while 
he engaged in a lengthy talk concerning the contents of the 
paper he had written, making his oration No. 30. (2178.) This 
writing being his manuscript No. 37. (1858.) 

Reed's writing last above mentioned is his No. 50. (1488- 
1490.) 

Seance No. 82. 

October 25, 1891. 
77C>. That the reader may have his mind refreshed and be 
given a consideration of the phenomena of these seances at this 
date, the minutes of this seance are here given in full. 



146 RENDIXG THE TAIL. 

The spirit Samuel Schmidt arose within the arena, took up 
the guitar, tuned it up (as the phrase is), played the tune "Mollie 
Darling," and then said: "Dis ting vondt shtay in tune." He 
retuned it for a minute or two, until it suited, and then said: 
"Dot 's it, dot 's it." Then he sang two or three German pieces 
to guitar accompaniment in a wonderful and masterly manner. 
The spirit gave us much amusement by his clownish jests, puns, 
sayings, and actions. Then he descended as though through 
the floor, until out of sight, and in an instant arose, as up through 
the floor, at a point in front of the arena curtain, and walked 
around the cabinet door shutter, talking to us all the while, 
until he reached the cabinet door; then, facing the circle, he 
stood erect in the door and slowly descended, as though through 
a sufficient opening in the floor; as he went down he uttered 
aloud the words: "Do you see me? Do you see me? Do you 
see me?" And when the mouth was down to the carpet: "Do 
you see me?" And when only the crown of the head was visible 
aboye the floor: "Do you see me?" And, in a twinkling, we 
distinctly heard his voice inside the cabinet, saying: "Dish 
peeshness ish too mooch foolishness, hugh?" 

777. Then immediately we all saw a form swiftly rise up, 
as though through the floor, at the exact place where Sam had 
just gone down, and assume the appearance of the common por- 
traits of Buddha clad in a long, yellow robe. This form uttered 
the word "Buddha" and swiftly descended. The head was hard- 
ly gone when another was seen to be rising and taking its place; 
in a moment it was fully arisen and blown out to a full neatly 
clad female form, with a starry coronal — Rachel Diogenes. This 
form quickly descended, and another form, differently clad, rose 
right up, was recognized as Mary House, and then descended. 
And yet another female form, in still different dress, rose up as 
suddenly as if by an elevator. This also, being recognized, de- 
scended; to be replaced by a male form, which, on being 
recognized, descended. 

777J. It seemed to pass down through its clothing and 
left it standing on the floor; and another, altogether different, 
rose right up into the standing clothing, was recognized, and 
said: "When he got out, I got in." And as this spirit went 
down in the clothing another was rising; and when to full stat- 
ure, it stood a moment looking about the room, and was fully 
recognized as Toms Nixon, father of the secretary. And as this 
spirit descended another arose to full form, saying to the secre- 
tary, "This is brother Zechey" (Zechariah), and, with upward look 
and outspread arms, swiftly descended till the chin was at the 
floor, when rhe entire head vanished out of sight as the light of a 
lamp extinguished. 

778. At the west side of the arena is a window with shut- 
ters on the inside, these shutters being open at this time, so that 



RENDING THE VAIL. 147 

the stars were visible to the sitters of the circle. When a spirit 
would arise in the arena, it was plainly to be seen passing between 
the sitters and the stars. 

779. Finally Dr. Reed arose from the floor, in the arena, 
and made himself known ; and while he stood between the sitters 
and the window, another form, not recognized, arose from the 
floor by the side of Reed, and passed out through the window. 
!Some of the circle remarked: kk He looks as if floating off in the 
air." Then the spirit Reed remarked: "See him going out 
yonder!" 

780. Then one appeared to pass from the outside of the 
window through the window, into the arena, and stood just in 
front of Reed, and there went down as if through the floor. 
(The reader will bear in mind that our seance-room is on the 
second floor, 15 or 16 feet above the ground, and that the rooms 
below are always well lighted during a seance, and that as a gen- 
eral thing this wiudow shutter is securely closed during a seance, 
but was opened at this time at the request of controls, for the 
purpose of the phenomenon of a spirit passing into and out of a 
room, "the doors being shut," and sash and lights closing the 
window.) This was repeated until all of the circle were satisfied, 
beyond any question, as to genuineness. 

781. Then Dr. Reed opened the desk, took a tablet, and 
made his manuscript Xo. 51. (1491-1496.) Then he went down 
and Denton immediately arose at the desk, was recognized, took 
a tablet from the desk, wrote therein, tore his writing from the 
tablet, and handed this and Reed's writing to Mr. Boicourt, who 
retained the same to the close of the seance. This was Denton's 
manuscript Xo. 38. (1861.) 

Seance No. S3. 

Xovember 1, 1891. 

782. In addition to regular circle, Mrs. Chapman, of Mis- 
souri, was present. 

The test seance, which presented a marvelous display of 
varied phenomena, was followed by the "intellectual, ,? which pre- 
sented us a mental feast, in which materializations were most 
extraordinarily well defined and the recognitions full and 
complete. 

The small seance table standing some distance away from 
the cabinet door was approached by a spirit and by the spirit 
taken to a point near 2^ feet from the cabinet door, and a chair, 
that was near, so placed by the spirit that a person stepping out of 
the cabinet, turning his face to the north, could sit down upon 
the chair, still facing north, and while so sitting the seance table 
would be at his right hand, the cabinet at his left hand, so that 
he could place his right hand upon the table for the purpose of 



148 RENDING THE VAIL. 

writing, with his left hand to hold the paper steady. Then this 
spirit retired into the cabinet, and 

783. Prof. Denton came out of the cabinet to the seance 
table and asked that some of us remove the arena curtain, which 
we did. 

Then the spirit went to the tablet desk, unlocked it. took 
therefrom several tablets to the seance table, examined the tab- 
lets a moment, and took them into the cabinet; and in a moment 

784. Dr. Keed came out of the cabinet to the table, having 
the tablets in his hands, laid them upon the table, sat down in 
the chair, asked for the trumpet, took it, laid it upon the table, 
opened the wide tablet, moved his hand over it, as though writ- 
ing, tore the leaf out, laid it upon the table, closed the tablet, 
arose from the chair, and retired into the cabinet. But on that 
leaf we found no writing. As Reed passed into the cabinet 

785. Prof. Denton passed out, took his seat in the chair, 
opened the large tablet, wrote with wonderful rapidity upon one 
leaf, tore it out, laid it upon the table, wrote upon another leaf, 
tore it out, laid it upon the table, closed the tablet, and retired 
into the cabinet. Thus making his manuscript No. 39. (1871.) 

786. Then there came out of the cabinet a materialization 
the most completely human in facial expression and general 
demeanor that we have ever seen. This spirit was at once recog- 
nized by all of the regular circle as the one known to us as Prof. 
M. Faraday. 

787. He deliberately took his seat at the seance table, 
opened the wide tablet, and earnestly looked around at the sec- 
retary, which meant to note the time of his writing. So rapidly 
was this writing done that, without better arrangements to de- 
termine the time, no exact accuracy could be attained, but the 
nearest, in this instance, was that the entire time of the produc- 
tion of the writing was slightly less than 18 seconds. He wrote 
upon three leaves, tore them out, each, as written upon, laid all 
upon the table, closed the tablet, arose, and walked into the 
cabinet. This constitutes M. Faraday's writing No. 24. (2671.) 

788. This writing contains 354 words, being done in 18 
seconds; making near 20 words per second, or near the astounding- 
rate of 1200 words per minute! 

It is true that this writing is, in part, contained in the Fara- 
day pamphlets. But the two points of interest are: first, the 
wonderful rapidity of the execution of the writing; and, second, 
of identity of personality. 

789. * As the spirit form of Prof. Faraday passed into the 
cabinet the make-up of Dr. Reed passed out of the cabinet to the 
chair, sat down in the chair, opened a tablet, wrote therein, tore 
a leaf out, laid it on the table (1497-1498), closed the tablet, arose 
from the chair, took all of the papers that had been torn by the 
spirits, that evening, from the tablets, laid them smoothly in 



RENDING THE VAIL. 149 

superposition on the table, and asked for a hammer. No ham- 
mer being found, the spirit said: "Anything to strike with." A 
lady presented him with her slipper. He said: "That will do." 
With the slipper, using the heel-tap for a hammer, he struck 
several smart blows upon something that appeared to be a com- 
mon cut nail, held erect upon the papers. He then took the 
trumpet, stood it erect upon the papers, and retired into the 
cabinet, leaving tablets, trumpet, and papers on the table; and 
they so remained to the close of the seance, it continuing some 
time longer for materialization and the vocalizations of the con- 
trol Sam. 

790. This being on the Sunday before election, someone 
asked Sam: "What about the Alliance party?" 

The spirit said, in prophecy: "The Alliance is gone up. It 
is done for now." 

791. After the seance closed, we found that the effect of 
the hammering, above mentioned, was to leave the stamp of 
some hard substance impressed entirely through the file of pa 
pers that had been torn from the tablets, as aforesaid, so that 
there could be no mistake as to their identity. 

Seance No. 84. 

November 8, 1891. 

792. This seance presented little more than a continuation 
of the psychic manuscript, and in this we have a new writer in 
the person of the spirit of Wesley Aber, a brother of this medium. 
This writing was in the slowest time of any yet, being 250 words 
in 67 seconds, nearlv 4 words per second, and is numbered as 
A. W. Aber's manuscript No. 1. (2770-2772.) 

793. Then Dr. Reed stood forth at the desk and made his 
manuscript No. 53. (1499 h) 

794. Then Prof. Faraday came forth and made his writing 
No. 25. (2682.) 

Seance No. 85. 

November 15, 1891. 

795. Miss Anna Moore and her mother, Mrs. Moore, are 
now members and regular attendants of the seances. 

Visitors present: Mrs. Chapman, Mr. Davis, and Dr. Chiles- 
worth, of Holden, Mo. 

On this occasion, as well as on several others, the medium 
gave, first, his usual test seance, being placed under the most abso- 
lutely test conditions that we could devise, as suggested in such 
cases by the Spiritualist press of the country, the Banner of Light, 
Progressive Thinker, Religio-Pliihsopliical Journal, Better Way, and 
others, and by our own experience. This process left the medium 
sitting in the cabinet door, having strips of tape closely fitting 



150 RENDING THE VAIL. 

around the wrists and around the legs just above the knee- joint, 
all securely sewed to the medium's clothing, and the bits of tape 
so secured at wrists and knees, so sewed together as that the 
medium could not separate his wrists from his knees more than 
three or four inches without breaking the sewing or the band- 
ages of tape. A little wheat flour was placed in each of the 
medium's hands. The front cabinet curtains were so pinned to- 
gether in front of the medium as that his head and face pro- 
truded through the curtains, and the feet of the medium pro- 
truded out underneath the curtains, so that the face, head, and 
feet of the medium were clearly visible to the circle. 

The large automatic music-box was at the medium's right, 
outside of the cabinet on a chair, 2\ feet from the medium. In- 
side of the cabinet, behind the medium, was the seance table, on 
which was a small hand-bell, a tin horn, a guitar, the small 
music-box, a tambourine, and some other small instruments. 
The light in the room was one No. 2 coal-oil burner, at its com- 
mon capacity for light, and shining on the medium's head, face, 
and feet. Every possible precaution was taken against fraud 
by confederates or fraud in any other way. 

Now the reader will bear in mind that none of the circle 
detected any movement of the medium during the entire seance 
after enhancement. 

When all was ready, the circle seated in the usual way 
against the east and north walls of the room, after a few moments 
of quiet, the medium entered the trance condition. Some un- 
seen force wound the large music-box and set it going, and mani- 
festations at once occurred: The small music-box was wound 
and set going; the small hand-bell was rung about in the cabinet 
and thrown out over the medium's head onto the floor at the 
feet of the circle; the trumpet was thrust out over the medium's 
head, taken back, thrust out and taken back several times, and 
thrown out at last onto the floor in front of the circle; the mouth- 
harp in the cabinet was nicely playing a tune as if by some 
person well trained thereat, but the medium's mouth and face 
were in plain view, so that every member of the seance was 
thoroughly satisfied to a point of absolute knowledge that neither 
the medium nor other mortal did that harp-playing; the guitar 
was next thrust out over the medium's head and taken back, 
this repeated two or three times, and then, the strings of the 
instrument being down and all out of tune, we heard a voice in 
the cabinet saying, a This machine is all out of kelter; I must 
tune it up," and immediately the tuning was commenced by some 
occult intelligence; finally we heard the words, "There, that will 
do," and thrumming of the strings began and several tunes were 
thrummed as handsomely as though by an expert guitarist, and 
finally the guitar was handed out over the medium's head to 



RENDING THE TAIL. 151 

some one of the circle; then the small music-box was in the 
same way given out of the cabinet. 

796. Now the large music-box was run down, and "there 
came forth fingers of a man's hand'' and wound that music-box, 
and not the king alone, but the entire circle, all that were at the 
feast (to-wit: ten persons), "saw the part of the hand that" did 
the winding. And at the same time there came forth fingers 
of a woman's hand and fingers of a child's hand over the medium's 
head and to the medium's left hand, and the entire circle saw 
hands and fingers and parts of hands at the same time, and 
knew that it could not be the medium's hands or the hands of 
any of the circle or of any mortal confederate. 

797. Then each person of the circle laid a handkerchief up- 
on the medium's head. As a handkerchief w r ould be so placed a 
hand from within the cabinet would take it from the head into 
the cabinet, and in less than one minute that handkerchief 
would be thrust out and the owner would take it and w T ould find 
writing upon it — a name familiar to the owner of the kerchief, 
or a portrait recognized. And so on until all had passed their 
handkerchiefs; but each one had some memento familiar to the 
owner. 

Then some sheets of blank paper were placed on the medium's 
head and taken in and written upon, having on each some short 
message to some one of the circle. 

798. Then each one of the circle, one at a time, laid his 
right hand, palm upward, upon the medium's head; a hand hav- 
ing the indelible pencil that was left on the seance table came 
forth and wrote in the palm of the hand, and all the members 
of the circle in each instance "saw the part of the hand that 
wrote," and saw no movement whatever of the medium. 

Now various voices in the cabinet talked to each other and 
to the circle in some such way as to be a souvenir of remem- 
brance dear to some one or all of the circle. 

799. Then this phase of the seance closed, and strict ex- 
amination of the medium found all the sewing intact as first 
made, and the flour in the medium's hands and no sign what- 
ever of any flour on the floor, carpet, curtains, or clothing about 
the medium. 

The seance table was removed from the cabinet, and the 
medium took his seat inside the cabinet for the materializing of 
full forms, but was left with the same test conditions about him. 

In this there were many very satisfactory results, and all, 
except one, were fully recognized. 

Tty order of the controls, the tablets were placed upon the 
seance table near to the cabinet door. A spirit then stepped 
to the table and gathered the tablets in his hands and took them 
into the cabinet. 

S00. In a few moments spirit A. W. Aber came out of the 



152 RENDING THE VAIL. 

cabinet, having with him the tablets, and placed them on the 
table; he then seated himself on the chair at the table, in the 
attitude for writing, opened one of the tablets, and wrote his 
essay No. 2. (2773-2779.) The spirit tore this writing from the 
tablet, folded it once, laid it on the table, closed the tablet, arose, 
and moved into the cabinet. 

801. Immediately Dr. Reed came out of the cabinet, took 
his seat at the table, opened the same tablet that Wesley used 
(we familiarly call the spirit A. W. Aber "Wesley"), and made 
his manuscript No. 54. (1500-1503.) 

802. As Reed retired into the cabinet Prof. Faraday stood 
in the cabinet door, took a tablet and the writings from the table, 
examined the writings, opened the tablet and wrote, tore from 
the tablet his writing, folded it and the other writings together, 
placed the tablet on the table, handed the papers to the secre- 
tary, and withdrew from our sight. 

803. On examination, we found that the Faraday writing 
was in syllogistic style, in conclusion of the import of the whole 
of the phenomena produced at this seance, and applicable to 
phenomena of a similar nature anywhere. 

804. We find, still farther, that this syllogism is, in most 
part, a reproduction of what this spirit is alleged to have written 
through a human organism as shown of record in the Faraday 
pamphlets, and is marked here as Faraday's writing No. 30. 
(2685.) 

805. In this writing the reader will find the fifth and sixth 
paragraphs to begin with the relative particle "This," evidently 
referring to the phenomenal presentations of these seances. 

Seance No. 86. 

November 18, 1891. 

806. The forms were well made up and vocalization was 
excellent. Among the forms was that of Prof. Denton, which 
spoke in a strong voice in a general salutatory manner, at length, 
asking for a subject; and, none of us being prepared just at the 
moment to announce a theme not already discussed, the spirit 
returned into the cabinet; and as it did so 

807. Thomas Paine stood to our vision in the cabinet door, 
and, in his musical, voluminous voice and eloquent manner, made 
to us his address No. 28. (2573.) 

Seance No. 87. 

November 22, 1891. 

808. For the first time the secretary was absent, and no 
minutes were taken, except that three visitors beside the regular 
sitters were present, and that the visible full-form psychic make- 
ups were very satisfactory. 

Dr. Reed made his writing No. 55. (1504-1509.) 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 153 

809. Prof. Faraday made his manuscript No. 27, in answer 
to Edison's opinion of the origin of life. (See par. 2G92.) 

810. Wesley Aber wrote his No. 3, in disconnected para- 
graphs, evidently intended to be blended with a portion of what 
Reed had written, the real essay beginning with the second 
paragraph. (2780-2784.) 

811. On November 26th was a seance entirely taken up 
with experiments for materializations in a strong light, the 
medium and all paraphernalia in sight of the circle, the light 
being the maximum of a No. 2 coal-oil burner placed on a table 
near the center of the room. The phenomena occurred as usual 
in the test seances, excepting that all was more intensified than 
usual; but, otherwise being a repetition of phenomena heretofore 
described, it is thought needless to repeat. 

Seance No. 88. 

November 29, 1891. 

812. On November 29th was also a seance for tests in the 
bright light, with entire satisfaction; and then a short seance 
with the medium in the cabinet while some psychic writing was 
done. Among this writing Dr. Reed made his No. 56. (1570- 




M> <Kfe 



% 



N\ 



^ pie tx 

m P. V)P r x 

- 813. A form stood at the seance table and made and left 
these strange characters, but we pass them to some linguist, as 
we do not know whether they represent any portion of any writ- 



154 RENDING THE TAIL. 

ten language or not, but let them go iri the hope that some reader 
of this book may be able to interpret them and report. 

814. Then Thomas Paine stood forth and made his writing 
No. 5. (2321.) 

Seance No. 89. 

December 1, 1891. 

815. Before going into the seance-room, several of the circle 
were discussing the relative values to the world and the cause 
of Spiritualism, of the phenomenal and inspirational phases of 
mediumship. 

After the medium was entranced and in the cabinet, and 
eleven well-defined and fully recognized materializations had ap- 
peared, some at and other just outside the cabinet door, 

816. One very brilliant appearance, which we at once 
recognized as Col. Sam Wood, came slowly emerging from the 
cabinet door, saying in a loud, strong oral voice: 

(a) "They will not, likely, get a jury. He is getting his 
punishment, however. 

(b) "That was a cowardly trick, done in a cold-blooded con- 
spiracy. They will all have their reward. 

(c) u l died a brave man. I had premonition of this event; 
but, it seems, my time was up and I had to go. I was never 
afraid of man or men. 1 knew that a band of spirits attended 
me and would do the best for me. 

(d) "This band had always before protected me. My real 
guardians were, at this time, caught away.* 

(e) "It is all right; and, but for the sorrowing of my poor 
wife, I am glad that I have exchanged worlds. 

(/) "I can now do more for the causes for which I am a 
martyr than I could do while in the mortal. 

(g) "This is a more gloriously realistic life than 1 ever 
anticipated." 

817. After Col. Wood retired, Prof. Denton stepped out of 
the cabinet to just outside the door; and, after stroking his 
whiskers and throat for several seconds (perhaps the stroking 
was assistant in the formation of a larynx and vocal organs), 
the spirit began to speak in a. nice, clear, oral rhetorical style, 
making his oral effort No. 31. (2187.) 

Seance No. 90. 

December 6, 1891. 

818. After the usual introductory phenomena, Prof. Denton 
stepped from within the cabinet to a point some two paces from 
the cabinet door, and began talking in his full volume of voice, 
greeting the various members of the circle in a good, hearty, 

* "Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?" (Matthew xxvii. 46.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 155 

social manner, finally asking the secretary: "What can I say 
for you at this time?" 

Secretary: ''Professor, I see that among the writings that 
spirits have done here there are some quotations from the writ- 
ings and speakings they did while in the physical. Is it desir 
able that we search all those quotations out and mark them?" 

Professor: "That question brings me to the very point I 
wish now to speak about." 

And then this spirit made his oral effort No. 32. (2193.) 

819. Then Father King appeared just outside the cabinet 
door, having short gray chin whiskers, a prominent, full, round 
forehead, and dressed in a long robe, his facial outline resembling 
a very intelligent Asiatic. 

820. This spirit took the horn and through it spoke to us 
in a conversational way, and to some extent comical, yet so that 
indeed "the voice of the trumpet was long and loud," having 
sufficient volume to have been heard by an audience of ten thou- 
sand people. Among the utterances of this "ancient of days" 
at this time were these, to-wit: 

(a) "I am from the planet Jupiter. 

(b) "The inhabitants of that planet are much like you, the 
difference being that they are much more intelligent than the 
inhabitants of your earth. 

821. "I lived on your earth, in the physical, about twenty 
thousand years ago. Look at me now and you see just how I 
looked — just how a man looked, in my country, on your earth, 
twenty thousand years ago." 

When this "ancient of days" had returned into the cabinet, 

822. Hiram Abiff stood forth in his most brilliant costume. 

The voice of Sam in the cabinet ordered that the writing- 
desk be placed near to the cabinet door; which being done, the 
spirit 

822J. Mary House came out to the desk and wrote three 
pages. This writing was done in a very delicate manner, requir- 
ing 2 seconds to the line, the rate of only 200 words to the minute. 
This was the slowest rate yet, but the writing was very neatly 
done and worded as follows: 

823. "When I look around me and see all the expectant 
faces I am acquainted with, it would make one feel like a 
stranger; but I am not. I have left a loved family in the body, 
whom I wish to meet and impress with the consciousness of 
spirit presence and communion. 1 have a husband here, in the 
body, who misses me from his side, and who longs to see me. 
I have, also, the same longing and anxiety to come into conver- 
sation and communion with my husband, Cornelius, and my dear 
daughters. I know that because I live after the change called 
death 1 must live forevermore. I must also tell you that I do 
not live in a narrow contracted space, from which I cannot come 



156 RENDING THE TAIL. 

to those who are dear to me, but that I am unlimited in my free- 
dom, and can pass from point to point and from field to field. 
I am learning many things in the spirit world. I find so much 
to take my time and occupy my attention that I cannot mourn 
because of the changes which have come to me or which have 
fallen upon my loved ones. I know that by and by you will feel 
that all has been for the best. I send my love and affection, for 
I feel I cannot fully manifest that which my spirit contains; 
when I come to you alone, then I feel more than satisfied. 

(Signed) "Mary House: 7 

824. Then Dr. Reed stood forth and wrote one page and 
three lines, as his effort No. 5T. (1514-1517.) 

825. Thomas Paine, standing forth, in answer to questions 
said: "No, friends, Masonry has no dependence upon the Bible, 
for it existed long before the Bible was ever thought of. 

826. "Yes, prayer may be of benefit to the honest, sincere 
suppliant. Prayer may bring you into closer relation to the 
angels, to whom your prayers should be directed. If, at night, 
as you repair to rest, you ask that good, kind, loving spirits 
watch over and care for you while the night is rolling away, 
sweeter influences will be given you. 

827. "These angels are they that exercise the fatherly care 
over you. These are your heavenly parents. Hence: 'Our 
Father which art in heaven.' " 



Seance No. 91. 

December 18, 1891. 

828. Before the sitting began, we took from a fresh box 
of photographic sensitives a plate and placed it in the plate- 
holder and that in the camera, and, Mr. Aber being in the room, 
we made the room completely dark, and in the darkness made 
the exposure for a few seconds and immediately developed the 
plate, and the result was the negative of a form looking much as 
the picture of some ancient personage. (830 c.) 

829. This is not the photograph, but the crayon sketch re- 
ferred to at paragraph 904. Sometimes Orondo appeared without 
the cap and stars, as in this sketch, and sometimes Yerma wore 
that cap. It is probable that cap and star represent official 
position. (See par. 2697.) 

830. Then the regular sitting began; and, among the sev- 
eral materializations, one came out which was at once recognized 
as the one whose negative was on the plate. He said in good 
English: "I am he who materialized onto that plate. When 
you saw those lights in front of the camera, that was myself. 
I was there in sufficient material illumination to be photographed. 

(a) "There was nothing on that plate until the exposure 
was made; of this fact you made yourselves well assured. 



REXDIXG THE TAIL 



157 



(b) "If there had been nothing in front of the camera ra- 
diating or reflecting actinic rays, there would have been no 
negative form on the plate. 










V>*- 



W 



ORONDO, 

Governor of the Lost Atlantis. 



(198,904.) 



(c) "I am Orondo, of the lost Atlantis. 

(d) "When that continent went down, I was on the Ameri- 
can continent. So were other Atlanteans. 

(e) "The American continent had, long prior, been inhab- 
ited bv man. 



158 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

(/) "In fact, man always existed. Man could not begin to 
be at one period of eternity more than at another. His being, 
therefore, must eternally have been. 

831. "According to your conception of evolution, even, this 
must be true; for suppose that it require a given, a finite period 
to evolve man from any real or supposed primordial matter or 
spirit, there could be no particular point of time in infinite dura- 
tion but what would mark the terminus of any limited period 
that would be requisite for the evolution of man. Therefore 
man has always existed. 

832. "Again. It would be impossible to evolve from mat- 
ter or spirit or both something that was or is not there already 
to be evolved. 

(a) "Therefore man in some form, some where, some how, 
always existed. 

833. "So, also, is it clear that the entire material compos- 
ing man's organic being has always existed, and the planetary 
conditions for man to be have always existed. 

834. "The intelligence in man has always existed in his 
component elements. This intelligence is that individualized 
man. This being true, it has the innate power of self-preservation. 
Therefore is eternal in identity." 

835. When Orondo was gone, at the request of Sam, the 
light was lowered a little, and a form stepped out of the cabinet 
and beckoned one of the lady sitters to it. The specter took hold 
of the lady's arm and escorted her about the room. It did not 
give its name, but we thought it the medium's father, who is in 
spirit life. 

836. This spirit returned into the cabinet, and the lady took 
her seat over against the south wall of the room, and Prof. Den- 
ton came out of the cabinet, took a chair and placed it by the 
side of the lady, and sat down in the chair, as realistic as pos- 
sible for anyone to appear. 

This spirit engaged in general conversation with all of us 
as though we were gathered at a social. Some four or five 
minutes being spent in this social, the spirit arose and returned 
into the cabinet. 

837. Immediately Prof. Hare stepped out to the chair and 
sat down by the side of the lady, changed his whiskers from gray 
to dark iron gray, arose and backed to the cabinet door, bowed, 
and retired into the cabinet. 

838. Then the spirit Wesley Aber came out of the cabinet, 
took the lady by the arm, escorted her to each member of the 
circle, beginning on the left, saluting each with a bow around to 
Captain Haughey, who sat against the north side of the room. 
Mr. Haughey put out his hand, and the spirit with his left hand 
grasped the Captain's hand and in a lively manner shook hands 
with Haughey, then he returned to the center of the room and 



RENDING THE TAIL. 159 

dematerialized downwards until the head reached the floor; the 
head vanished, and the lady was left alone, standing. 

839. The spirit and the lady were of equal height, but the 
lady is about five inches taller than Mr. Aber, the medium, so 
there is no way by which we could be mistaken as to the genuine- 
ness of this phenomenon in this instance except by ''elongation,'' 
and that would be another case of "medicine worse than the 
disease." Although these materializations have the power of 
elongation, at will, yet we have no evidence that the medium 
himself is ever elongated. 

840. For the benefit of the investigator, the secretary here 
inserts a personal experience with another medium, a little girl 
of ten years, and about the year 1872. This little medium had 
the table-tipping and slate-writing phase. On the occasion in 
question the circle w T as of six children besides the medium, seated 
around a common 4-foot falling-leaf dining-table, on the lawn, 
in bright sunlight, the leaves of the table down for the partial 
modulation of light under the table. The medium was seated 
at one end of the table, holding a slate in one hand on her knees, 
beneath the table, and the other hand on the table. Three 
children were on each side of the table, and myself at the opposite 
end of the table from the medium, but some three or four feet 
removed from the table, so seated as to see the slate under the 
table in the medium's hand. 

841. A moment after the children began to sing one of 
their seance pieces, I observed something of the appearance of a 
column or cylinder of light proceed from the medium's hand un- 
der the table until the cylinder reached the end of the table to- 
ward me, then curved up over the end of the table, and on the 
end of the column, above the table, four feet from the medium's 
face, there came the form of a man's hand, which slapped the 
top of the table several times, then reached out under the table 
to each, in turn, of the several children at the table, fondly play- 
ing a moment. 

842. Then the column contracted, taking the hand with it 
until the hand reached the slate, and then the hand picked up 
the pencil that was on the slate and wrote messages to the little 
girls, dropped the pencil, and vanished. 

Having this medium stop with me at my own home, for a 
time, I had the opportunity and did observe the parallel of this 
instance on more than a dozen different occasions. 

843. Now we also venture an opinion: That this cylinder 
was a column of magnetism drawn from the medium by an out- 
side intelligence that was sufficiently versed in psychic electro- 
magnetic chemistry to manipulate the vital magnetism into form 
at its will. 



160 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Seance No. 92. 

December 31, 1891. 

844. Denton, on coming out of the cabinet, asked Mr. Clark 
for a pencil, which Mr. Clark handed to the spirit. The material- 
ization then sat down at the small seance-table, which was be- 
tween the sitters and the cabinet door, and wrote in a tablet which 
Mr. House had furnished, using the pencil which Mr. Clark had 
loaned the spirit. The tablet was of common letter size, ruled 
seventeen lines to the page. The spirit wrote five pages and 
four lines, tearing each leaf from the tablet as it was finished 
and placing it on the table. When the six leaves were all fin- 
ished, the spirit placed them all together and gave them to Mr. 
House, and the pencil to Mr. Clark, with "Thank you, sir," arose, 
bowed good-night to the circle, and returned into the cabinet. 
This being Denton's manuscript No. 40. (1878.) 

845. And immediately there stood one in the cabinet door, 
clean-shaven, smooth-faced, nearly six feet tall, whom we at once 
recognized as Thomas Paine. 

This spirit asked for a pencil, which was given him by Mr. 
House. The spirit, seated at the table, opened another tablet 
which Mr. House had provided, ruled eighteen lines to the page, 
and very deliberately wrote three pages with the pencil Mr. 
House had loaned him, tore the three leaves from the tablet, 
handed them to Mr. Clark, and the pencil back to Mr. House, 
with "Thanks," arose, stepped into the cabinet door, bowed 
good-night, and the spirit was gone. This was his manuscript 
No. 6. (2330.) 

These two writings were done with more deliberation than 
any other so far, the rate being not more than 200 words per 
minute. 

846. Then Denton reappeared, standing in the cabinet door, 
and asked: "What is the greatest force in the universe?" 

Secretary: "The most spiritual substance." 

Miss Anna Moore: "Mind." 

Spirit: "Mind. That's it, exactly. Let the lady go to the 
head of the class. Mr. Secretary, I would have thought that 
you, so long in this school, would have answered that question." 



Seance No. 93. 

January 3, 1892. 
847. Mr. Ed. Moore, of Lawrence, Kas., and Mrs. Vantry 
Concannon, of Worlin, Mo., present as visitors. 

At this seance some of the materializations were most won- 
derful in test qualities. 

Prof. Denton, in the cabinet door, reached to the cord that is 
for the purpose and lowered the light a little, then stepped out 
into the room to a point some 4 feet north of the cabinet door 



RENDING THE VAIL. 161 

and gazed back into the cabinet, as though looking for someone 
to follow him, then stepped back into the cabinet a moment and 
returned to the point north of the door outside of the cabinet; 
and, as he turned to face the cabinet door, a lady form stood in 
the door, claiming to be the wife of Mr. Concannon, and he recog- 
nized her as such. 

8-18. Denton then spoke, saying: "There can be no mis- 
take about that. Here am I, and there stands the lady." 

849. Then both spirits returned into the cabinet, 'and a 
male form much taller than Denton came forth, leading a little 
child form. This male spirit was recognized by Mr. Concannon, 
as Uncle Concannon, and the little child as that of Mr. Concan- 
non and his spirit wife who had just before stood in the door. 
These man and child forms retired behind the curtains. 

850. Denton again stood in the door, holding a little girl 
form by the hand, the little girl walking in the air — her feet about 
eighteen inches above the floor. Denton now remarked: "You 
see that wonderful phenomenon, a spirit walking in the air."' 
And both retired behind the curtains into the cabinet. 

851. Then came from the cabinet a male form, perceptibly 
taller than Denton; probably it was Wesley Aber. Advancing 
some 2J feet from the cabinet door, he fixed his gaze upon a 
point on the floor just in front of him, and said: "Come up, little 
one, come up." And we all beheld a vapory appearance rising 
from the floor at that point, which presently unfolded to the 
form and stature of a little child, which looked up at the spirit 
beside it, reached out its little hand, which was taken by the 
larger form ; then both, bowing toward us, turned and went, hand 
in hand, into the cabinet. 

852. A form then arose in the arena, opened the desk, took 
therefrom some tablets, passed under the arena curtain into the 
room, in front of the cabinet, around the cabinet door, and behind 
the cabinet door curtains. This spirit w 7 e recognized as Prof. 
Faraday. He had in his hand two tablets. 

853. Shortly Denton came out of the cabinet, having tablets 
in his hand, and sat down at the seance-table, laid the tablets 
on the table, opened one of them, wrote (1887), tore the leaves 
out upon which he had written, folded them once lengthwise, 
laid them on the table, closed the tablet, and leaned forward, 
his elbows on the table and his head resting in his hands, as 
though in deep meditation or having pain in the head. As he sat 
in this mode, some remarks were made by some of the circle 
concerning it, and at length Mr. Moore made some remark con- 
cerning the realistic appearance of the spirit, when the spirit 
raised his head and began to discourse, saying: 

"It 's all useless, Prof. Moore, for me to be writing thus 
scientifically. People cannot, will not understand or compre- 
hend it. 1 will have to change my writing. People, even Spirit- 



162 RENDING THE TAIL. 

ualists, are not acquainted with conditions that are necessary 
for the production of phenomena. They begin to suggest, sug- 
gest, suggest. This makes such a positive state of affairs as to 
spoil the very elements necessary, and even the spirit friends 
that go there are driven back. They strive in vain to reach their 
friends on the mortal side. By day and night they leave their 
beautiful homes to let in the sweet spirit light from the beautiful 
beyond, but are driven back! 

"It almost discourages me to see the people so filled up with 
— no, it is not ignorance, altogether; it is — well I can think of 
no word that will better illustrate the fact to you than 'cussed- 
ness.' And when I think of those people calling us 'hobgoblins,' 
I almost feel like never again coming through the vail. We, 
on this side, do not have to come. We come not for our benefit, 
but to enlighten the people. And those we come to serve drive 
us back! Through long teaching, the coming and hallowed in- 
fluence of the heavenly messenger is called 'demoniac' 

"But if you will study you will find that angels and spirits 
are not called demons. If the people would read their own Bible 
with some sense, they would find it a spiritual revelation — that 
is, a revelation by spirits — part of it, not all of it; for there is 
much of it that neither is nor purports to be revelation at all. 
Let them study their bibles. Teach them from the Bible if you 
will. They need to know what is in that book. They are too 
stupid to even study the Bible. Someone else must study it for 
them. Go forth and preach their own Bible to them." 

854. Then Denton arose and retired into the cabinet, and 
Thomas Paine came forth, saying: 

"The devil is in the people, but, friends, don't use that word. 
It gives a wrong idea. That word that the Professor used a 
moment ago, 'cussedness,' is a better word; and, though a vulgar 
one, really is very expressive." 

Then the spirit sat down and wrote, tore out his writing and 
threw it at the seeretarv, and retired. This is his manuscript 
No. 7. (2334.) 

Denton's manuscript of this occasion is his No. 41. (1887.) 



Seance No. 9J^ 

January 10, 1892. 

855. The spirit materialization of Dr. Reed sat at the table 
and made his writing No. 58. (1517f 1520.) 

856. When he returned into the cabinet, Prof. Denton came 
forth from the cabinet, took his seat at the stand table, and, in 
continuation of a former essay, made his writing No. 42. (1890.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 103 

Seance No. 95. 

January 14, 1892. 

857. Prof. Denton stood in the cabinet door and made his 
vocalization No. 33. (2208.) 

858. As soon as Denton had returned into the cabinet, a 
formation of a cloudlet appearance began to rise from the floor 
near the center of the room, so that all the circle beheld the 
phenomenon, and it gradually unfolded into the appearance of a 
woman holding a little child by the hand. This was recognized 
by Mr. O. L. Concannon as his wife and babe in spirit. 

859. These forms then moved into the cabinet; and as they 
passed behind the cabinet door curtains we beheld another form 
making up in the center of the room, outside the cabinet. It 
also unfolded into the form of a person in female apparel; and 
was recognized as Mary House. Mr. House not being present, 
she said, "Tell Cornelius I was here," and moved into the 
cabinet. 

Seance No. 96. 

January 24, 1892. 
8G0. Spirit Denton, standing in the cabinet door, made his 
vocalization No. 34 (2212) in continuation of the dialogue form. 

861. When Denton had done his oral teaching and gone 
into the cabinet, Thomas Paine appeared in the doorway of the 
cabinet, and, in deep musical intonations of voice, made his 
oration No. 29. (2581.) 

Seance No. 97. 

October 6, 1897. 
At the residence of J. H. Pratt, Spring Hill, Kas. 

862. After an absence of near six years, W. W. Aber, the 
medium for the scientific psychic band of the Aber Intellectual 
Circle, has returned, and mostly for the purpose of conditions for 
completing a work that was commenced here about eight years 
ago, but not then completed for want of proper environment, to 
continue. 

863. A great portion of the original circle can be no more 
present, in the physical, but J. H. Pratt and his wife, Josephine, 
William Chany and his wife, Mr. Greenup, Mrs. Maggie Evans, 
J. H. Nixon, and the medium's wife, Mrs. Sallie Whiting Aber, 
as the circle this evening, renew the long-ago well-begun work. 

864. The seance-room, cabinet, furniture, light, position of 
secretary, and all on the physical side are arranged as at the be- 
ginning; J. H. Nixon continuing as secretary or amanuensis. 

865. There is piano accompaniment to vocal music by the 
circle during the seance. 

866. The medium becomes entranced. His brother Wesley, 
on the spirit side, takes control of the medium's vocal organ*. 



164 BENDING THE VAIL. 

and thereby delivers to the circle a very interesting introductory 
lecture, announcing, also, the scientific band of spirits as being 
present and ready for work. 

S67. This spirit band consists of Dr. Reed (1230), the chem- 
ical and intellectual control ; Samuel Schmidt, the trance control 
portrait at 11G0); little Bessie Moore (at 1164) and little Nellie 
Gray (at 1162), as cabinet controls; and Prof. Hare, Prof. M. 
Faraday (2592), and Prof. William Denton (1633), as scientific 
controls; Prof. Denton and Thomas Paine, vocalization controls; 
Raphael and Titian, artistic controls; Father King (2704) and 
Wesley Aber (2767), trumpet controls. And it is highly probable 
that the most efficacious spirits in this work have not been re- 
vealed to the circle. 

868. The cabinet controls we also designate as colloquial 
controls, because they, using the medium's vocal organs, are 
ever ready to give to the circle instructions, and explanations 
where other spirits are not able to clearly tell us what they in- 
tend, and these colloquials also entertain the seances by giving 
the members and visitors of the circle intellectual tests. 

869. These cabinet controls are also able to and do, as well 
as other spirits, manifest to the circle, in full-form materializa- 
tion and complete independent voice. 

S70. By independent voice or vocalization is meant the con- 
versation, talk, and speech of a spirit through temporarily con- 
structed vocal organs, such as a larynx to shape the sound and 
bellows to so pass air through the larynx as to produce sound; 
spirit speech in this manner we designate also vocalization. 

871. The spirit is often able to give labial or lip speech, 
which we designate whisper. 

872. Then again, the spirit is able to so far materialize as 
to form vocal sounds in and through a common trumpet, and this 
may be of every degree of voice volume, from a mere whisper 
sound to the very utmost volume of human speech, according 
as the spirit may be able and conditions will allow. The con- 
trols promise us that in a little while we shall have the old-time 
phenomena. 

873. Bessie exclaims: "Sakes o' life! This is all new to 
me. These scientific fellows — well, I '11 have to get out of the 
way. Here one comes." (This is Bessie's first experience in this 
kind of seance.) 

874. At this we see a form emerging from the cabinet, and 
we hear it whispering: "Good-evening, friends. I am glad to 
meet you here. I am Dr. Reed." 

(a) Dr. Gile, now quite aged, asks: "Dr. Reed, what is 
the cause of my failing eyesight?" 

(h) The spirit answers in a whisper: "Advancing age and 
development." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 165 

(c) Dr. Gile: "How long after what we call death before 
the new-born spirit realizes its transition?" 

id) The spirit again answers in a whisper: "That depends 
upon who is the person. The more spiritual sooner discern the 
true situation. Some realizing almost immediately — glad to 
quit the old and be with friends in the new home; while days, 
weeks, months, and, in some extreme unspiritual cases, even 
years may intervene between death and the time of transition and 
conscious realization of the fact." 

(e) Question: "How about the millionaire?" 

(/) Spirit: "That, too, depends upon the character. Ste- 
phen Girard had a wideawake spirit. We discussed this whole 
matter, heretofore. 

The spirit then retired into the cabinet. 

S75. Bessie: "Sakes o' life! Here comes another one." 

And we behold a form emerging from the left side of the 
cabinet, over against the south wall of the room. It takes the 
trumpet and whispers: "Prof. Hare. Friends, keep this circle 
together." 

876. While this spirit is in plain view of the circle at the left 
of the cabinet, another form emerges from the cabinet at the right 
extremity of the cabinet, over against the west wall of the room, 
in plain view of the circle; these two forms standing near 6 feet 
apart, and this to satisfy any doubting mind present that the 
forms are not the medium in personification. 

877. Then the curtain is raised, so that the medium is seen 
by part of the circle, and at the same time a separate form is seen 
by the circle, standing by the medium. And w T hile the two 
forms are visible to the circle, Bessie, in the cabinet, in good 
strong oral tones, is singing "Kiss me good-night." This while 
the two forms are visible to the circle. 

878. We had placed in front of the cabinet, and 3 feet dis- 
tant therefrom, a small stand table, and on the table a box, to 
form a writing-desk of proper height for a person while standing 
to write upon. Upon this box is placed a new tablet, entirely 
clean of any writing. 

Spirit Dr. Keed now steps out of the cabinet, saying, in 
partial oral tones: "Good-evening, friends." The spirit took 
the said tablet, opened it and wrote therein, tore off one leaf of 
the tablet, gave the said leaf to the secretary, then wrote 'upon 
and tore from the tablet another leaf, giving the same to the 
secretary, and so a third leaf. 

During this writing the entire procedure was in plain view 
of each person of the circle. 

879. The secretary, judging from his pulse, found this to 
have been done at the rate of 10 words per second and the writ- 
ing to be in the hand that we recognize as that of the spirit Dr. 



166 BENDING THE TAIL. 

Reed, and to be an elucidation of the topic "True Charity." This 
was Reed's manuscript No. 59. (1521-1524.) 

880. We next discern a form at the left extremity of the 
cabinet, and hear it whispering the name "John Pierpont," and 
the words, "Glad to meet you here to-night." 

Then a form came out at the cabinet door, advanced some 
5 feet toward the secretary's desk, took the ruby light from the 
desk and carried it about the room, and, after placing the lamp 
back upon the table, retired into the cabinet. 

881. Now one advanced from the left side of the cabinet, 
near to the secretary, saying, in a loud whisper : "I am William 
Denton. Give me a subject." 

Secretary : "Materialization." 

The spirit could not vocalize very well, and therefore took 
the trumpet, saying, through it : 

"Materialization is by a certain iaw that we find in the 
universe. By that one law is produced every organic form in 
existence. That law is very little understood by man, in the 
physical, to-day. Dr. Reed, in his writing to-night, has touched 
upon one phase of it. The Hindoos knew something concerning 
it, and materialization, as you call it, was common among them; 
but one never fully comprehends it until he gets to the spirit 
side of life, in what you may term the spirit world. I will speak 
more at length another time." 

Then the spirit stood the trumpet on the floor and dematerial- 
ized downwards until the head reached the floor, and then that 
instantly vanished. 

882. The cabinet colloquial, Bessie, gave oral mental tests 
to the different members of the circle, and closed the seance, to 
October 9, 1897, at 7:30 p. m. 

Seance No. 98. 

October 9, 1897. 

883. At the usual hour the seance began. Th^ s crct°ry 
being absent, C. V. N. House acted pro tern. 

This, while a seance full of interest to the circle, gave also 
two incidents that may be of scientific value. 

First, the materialized form of the medium's spirit brother, 
W T esley Aber, stood at the desk, in full view of the circle, and 
wrote after the manner of the usual rapidity of these psychic 
writings, his manuscript No. 4. (2786-2794.) 

884. The crowning feature of the evening was that one 
apparition stepped out of the cabinet door to the writing-desk, 
and another that claimed to be spirit Dr. Reed, the medium's 
chemical control, stood in the cabinet door; both forms, at the 
same time, being clearly discernible by all the members of the 
circle. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 167 

885. The form at the writing-desk took the tablet, which 
was clean and on which was no writing- nor drawing, and worked 
upon a tablet leaf, as though sketching; once in a while looking 
intently at the form that was standing in the cabinet door. Upon 
that tablet leaf the circle found the portrait, cabinet size, which 
all recognized to be a good likeness of the spirit form of Dr. 
Reed, and which, as so drawn, the reader will find heading Dr. 
Reed's writings at par. 1230. 



Seance No. 99. 

October 13, 1807. 

886. The seance this evening presents nothing for the gen- 
eral public, except Prof. Denton wrote, in the ordinary manner 
of these psychic writings, his manuscript No. 43. (1894.) 

Seance No. 100. 

October 16, 1897. 

887. The circle is now composed of J. H. Pratt and wife, 
C. V. N. House and wife, Mr. Greenup and wife, Maggie Evans, 
Orrville Markley, Dr. Gile, Mrs. Aber, and J. H. Nixon. 

We now have a ruby light as an experiment. 
Phenomena are growing more emphatic. 
This seance gives us three items that may be of interest to 
the student of psychic phenomena. 

888. Spirit Reed stepped to the writing-desk in front of the 
cabinet and made his manuscript No. 60. (1525-1530.) This 
consisted of 352 words ; time, 80 seconds ; rate, 4.4 words per sec- 
ond. This includes the time of taking three leaves out of the tab- 
let, one at a time, and placing upon the table, so that the actual 
writing was not far from 5 words per second, and this according 
to count of pulse of six members of the circle. 

889. Bessie announced the coming of the artist to give a 
picture of Yerma. 

Then suddenly there stood at the writing-desk an apparition 
(which we call spirit form or materialization), which picked up 
the same tablet Reed had just used; and at the same time, an- 
other apparition of human form stood in the cabinet door, behind 
the artist at the desk; and, at the same time, a third form stood 
just out of and at the left corner of the cabinet. (1170.) 

The artist now made strokes as if sketching, once in a while 
looking back at the form standing in the cabinet door. At the 
end of 17 pulse-beats, from the time the spirit (for to us such it 
was) began to mark in the tablet, he took out the leaf on which 
he was sketching, laid it upon the desk, and vanished down- 
wards apparently; and the form at the left also vanished; while 
the form in the cabinet door spoke, somewhat rapidly, in oral 



168 REXDIXG THE VAIL. 

tones, a few sentences in some tongue unknown to us, and re- 
turned into the cabinet. And this portrait No. 2 we foun& to be 
the artist's sketching, and the controls tell us this is a good 
likeness of Yerma, of the lost Atlantis. (2697.) 

S90. Bessie exclaims: "Faraday is here." Immediately 
there stood at the writing-desk a form, which we recognized as 
Prof. M. Faraday, writing in the same tablet that Reed and the 
artist had just used, tearing the leaves out as written upon until 
three leaves were torn out; then he picked up the leaves Reed 
and the spirit artist had written upon, and handed the papers 
all to Mr. Pratt, telling him to hand them to the secretarv. 
(2697). 

891. This whole transaction was in light sufficient for the 
entire circle to eve-witness it, and this was Faraday's writing 
No. 28. 

892. Next an apparition stood forth to our view, speaking 
in low oral tones, and we recognized the voice as that of Prof. 
Denton. He now made his oration No. 35, on "Materialization." 
(2219.) 

Seance No. 101. 

October 20, 1897. 

893. The Denton make-up stepped out of the cabinet into 
full view of the circle and took the trumpet, saying through it: 
"Good-evening, friends. Have any of you a subject for me?" 

Dr. Gile: "Characteristics in spirit life." 
The spirit continued briefly in loud tones, saying: 
891. "Characteristics in spirit life are very much as in the 
earth life, except that they are more refined here. Yours is 
more according to gross elements of earth. When you pass to 
the spirit side, the characteristics therefore change somewhat 
in some." 

895. When the Denton form had gone, the chemical control, 
Dr. Reed, stepped to the writing-desk, took up the tablet, and 
wrote during 130 pulse-beats, the pulse being about 70 per 
minute. 

This writing is Reed's No. 61, and the subject "Mediumship," 
written at the rate of 4 words per second. (1532-1548.) 

896. Then Denton wrote his No. 44. (1901.) 

John Pierpont was next at the desk and made his writing 
No. 3. 

897. Bessie announced, "The artist is coming," and we 
behold that apparition come from the cabinet to the desk, pick 
up a tablet, open it, hold it in his left hand and make motions 
with his right hand as though sketching with a pencil upon the 
tablet, then tear a leaf from the tablet, then step to the secre- 
tary, give to him the leaf so torn from the tablet, then place the 
tablet on the desk, and retire into the cabinet. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 169 

As the spirit gave the paper to the secretary he so held it 
that the circle could see what was on the leaf, and all with one 
accord exclaimed: "Isn't that beautiful!" This sketch No. 3 
we recognized as a good likeness of a materialization that fre- 
quents our cabinet door. This portrait was executed in 90 pulsa- 
tions, or 1 1-3 minutes. 

898. In a few seconds the artist reappeared, and in 80 
seconds sketched this No. 4, and, holding the sketch so the circle 
could distinctly see the drawing, gave it to the secretary and 
speaking what to us seemed Chinese, and, in pantomime, the spirit 
gave significance of great delight. (1143.) 

899. Bessie told us this was the Chinaman Confucius, in 
ecstasies at the success of his picture. 

Such were some of the occurrences at this seance witnessed 
by the whole circle of eleven persons. 



Seance No. 102. 

October 23, 1897. 

900. Prof. Denton, standing in the cabinet door, desired a 
subject. 

"Geography of Atlantis" was announced. 

Immediately another one of the circle said: "Or, in other 
words, give us the location of the great central sun of the interior 
universe." 

901. This made the question not only compound, but the 
two members were not at all analogous to each other, so that the 
spirit, being taken aback thereby, his form quickly dissolved 
away; but in a moment he came again, saying: "Now tell me 
what you will have." 

902. The secretary replied: "Go on with the great central 
sun of the interior universe, and get it out of the way." 

To this then, and the subject of "Heart Failure," this spirit 
made his oration No. 36. (2222.) 

There were two writings this evening, after the manner of 
the writings here as heretofore described, both concerning tran- 
sition experience. 

903. One bv spirit Weslev Aber, being No. 5. (2795- 
2800 (c).) 

903^. One was anonymous, but was continued at a subse- 
quent seance and signed "Dr. Chilesworth." A. D. Chilesworth 
was an attendant of these seances for a little time near the be- 
ginning. (See Transition No. 1, 28K1-2870.) 

904. The cabinet control now announced the coming of the 
artist, and immediately there stood in the arena a form which 
picked up the tablet, took it into the cabinet, at the north side 
thereof, and came out of the cabinet at the southeast corner there- 
of, against the south wall of the room, jabbering some strange 



170 RENDING THE TAIL. 

tongue; exhibiting the tablet, it went back through the cabinet 
to the writing-desk in the arena, and worked upon a leaf of the 
tablet as though sketching for about one minute, then tore the 
leaf out, and took it through the cabinet to the secretary, some 
6 feet from the southeast corner of the cabinet; on this leaf so 
delivered to the secretary was sketched, in pencil, the striking 
portrait set in at paragraph 830 c. 

905. As the spirit returned into the cabinet Bessie said: 
''That is the picture of Orondo. And he says he was once gov- 
ernor of the people of Atlantis." (198, 829-834.) 

906. The artist again appeared at the desk in the arena, 
took the tablet, passed through the cabinet and out of it at the 
southeast corner and on to the secretary, and handed to him 
the tablet, saying something in an unknown tongue, which the 
cabinet control says is to the effect that the secretary thoroughly 
examine the tablet, so as to know 7 it, and also know that all of 
the leaves of the tablet are clean from pictures or marks of any 
kind. The secretary so examined, and had the other members 
of the circle also examine, and be satisfied, which resulted in an 
expression of all the circle that the tablet was absolutely clean 
of any marks or picture whatever; he then handed the tablet 
back to the spirit, who took it back through the cabinet to the 
writing-desk in the arena on the north side of the cabinet. Then 
the spirit, standing in the arena, asked the secretary to go to 
the writing-desk, which he did. The secretary could there see 
that the spirit had the clean tablet that he and the circle had 
examined. 

907. Then the spirit tore from that tablet a leaf, which 
the secretary could see was yet clean of picture and marks of any 
kind. The spirit held that single leaf with the thumb and fingers 
of his left hand, and with his right hand sketched upon that leaf 
as it was so held by the spirit's left-hand, for about one minute; 
then he gave that leaf to the secretary. Upon that leaf is now T 
the picture of one of the scientific controls, known to the circle 
by the name of Father King. (2704.) 

908. The circle also designate this spirit "the ancient of 
days," because he claims to have lived on the earth twenty 
thousand years ago; and he claims, also, to have been one of 
the controls of some of the Israelitish patriarchs and prophets, 
and the principal trumpet control of the spirit band of Moses 
and Aaron. 

909. This spirit speaks and writes as though he had fair 
knowledge of our language and a scientific education. He says 
his people on the earth used the same language as the English 
now. He claims to be the same King of the Coons rooms fame. 

910. Soon after the sketching of his picture at this seance, 
he stepped into the cabinet door in front of the door curtains, 
picked up the trumpet, and voiced through it, in very loud tones: 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 171 

"Good-evening, friends. Play as loudly on that piano as you 
can." The pianist then led away with as much volume as the 
piano would give out. The circle also joined in vocally, in a 
very strong tone of voice. During this great noise the spirit 
said, so as to be distinctly understood by all of the circle and 
even the pianist: "I am glad to meet you again. I am glad 
the good work is revived. I am glad of the great success of my 
picture here this evening." Then, standing the trumpet on the 
floor, the spirit retired into the cabinet. 

Seance No. 103. 

October 27, 1897. 

911. The reader is presented with the record of such oc- 
currences of the seances as seem of probable interest to the 
student of psychics. 

912. A materialization took the trumpet, which stood on 
the floor in front of the cabinet, and through it uttered, in a good 
oral tone, "Bruno," and retired, leaving the trumpet standing on 
the floor; but in a moment what seemed to us the same form 
reappeared and spoke through the trumpet, in some to us un- 
known tongue, which Bessie says will erelong be interpreted 
to us. , 

913. Then Denton, standing in our full view, took the 
trumpet, and through it made his oration No. 36 (2230), but was 
cut short of his full talk on account of some mismanagement of 
the light, which so nearly destroyed the form that the spirit 
had to return to the cabinet. 

914. Quickly another appeared and took the trumpet, say- 
ing: "Give me a subject quick." No one having a subject to 
offer, the secretary suggested "The Effect of Light upon a Mate- 
rialized Form." 

Spirit: "The same as with the sensitive coating of a photo- 
graphic sensitive plate. If a ray of light strike or fall upon the 
plate, it is destroyed at once. The chemical effect of the light 
is to destroy the chemical film of the plate. 

915. "So light, pure white light, falling upon a sensitive 
materialized body, destroys the chemical affinity of the particles 
of the form for each other, and also severs the affinity of the 
particles for the spirit, and the effect is that the form is instantly 
destroyed and the magnetic elements taken from the medium 
suddenly return; and, in case the medium be disposed to heart 
failure, an extreme case might terminate in severing the medium 
from his body, and he be thus left on the spirit side. 

916. "Hence, too much caution cannot be used concerning 
the light in a materializing seance." 

This spirit was identified as Wesley Aber. 

917. Dr. Reed gave us a writing, touching the second birth 
or the resurrection, as his written effort No. 62. (1549-1550 b.) 



172 RENDING THE VAIL. 

918. Bessie announced the coming of the artist, and sud- 
denly there stood the artist at the desk in the arena, and a form 
in the cabinet door, seen by all of the circle, and a third form 
at the southeast angle of the cabinet, seen by five persons of the 
circle. 

919. These three forms are all seen at the same time, while 
the artist sketches portrait No. 7. 

920. Which we supposed to be intended as the picture of 
Bruno. (Set in at par. 578.) 

921. Then the artist sketched portrait No. 8 while another 
spirit form stood by his side in the arena and a third one stood 
in the cabinet door, and all at the same time. 

These two pictures, each, occupied 1 minute of time. 

922. If there was any scepticism lingering in the mind of 
any new members of this circle as to the possibility of fraud on 
the part of the medium or confederate, it had to go now. 

923. Three materializations visible at the same time, and to 
be eye-witnesses to the astonishing rapidity of the execution of 
the writings and portraits, is bound to carry these phenomena 
into the field for "scientific psychic research" to make inquiry. 



Seance No. 10 If. 

October 30, 1897. 

924. At this seance the programme seemed to be material- 
ization drill. 

(a) The form of a child dressed in the garb of a little girl 
stood at the left side of the cabinet front, while at the right side 
was (b) one of the appearance and garb of a man. (c) Sometimes 
the same child would appear in the cabinet door while two male 
forms were visible at the writing-desk. 

925. Spirit Denton, standing at the left side of the cabinet, 
took the trumpet and asked for a subject, and this proposition 
was made for a theme: 

"Professor, since passing to spirit life, do you find the cos- 
mological genesis and unfoldment theory of Laplace to be 
correct?" 

Spirit: "Laplace hardly goes so far back as the genesis, 
but from his starting-point — the period when the given solar 
system was one fiery mass — his theory of the unfoldment of the 
solar planetary systems is, seemingly, substantially correct." 

This seance gives us the picture of little Nellie, one of the 
medium's cabinet controls. (Sketch 13, 1162.) 

925-J. Nellie stood in the cabinet door while the artist at 
the northwest angle of the cabinet did the sketching; and when 
the artist had finished the sketching, he said to Nellie: "That 
is all for you now." This sketch is a good representation of Nellie 
as she appeared to the circle during the sketching. 



RENDIXG THE TAIL. 



173 



920. Then another form stood forth, so that the circle could 
distinctly see it and the artist. 

927. The artist looked at the form a moment, then began 
sketching, then again intently gazed at 'the materialization as it 




HIRAM ABIFF, (822.) 

Master Mechanic of the Construction of Solomon's Temple. 

stood near to him, then sketched again, occupying something near 
a minute of time. 

Crayon portrait was accompanied to the secretary by this 
writing, signed "Denton." (See pars. 573-577.) 



174 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Statement by Spirit William Denton. 

928. "Hiram Abiff was appointed Deputy Grand Master of 
Masonry by King Solomon. King Solomon, it is said, sent a let- 
ter to Hiram, King of Tyre, asking him to send him a cunning 
and skilled workman to build a temple, and Hiram, King of Tyre, 
sent Hiram Abiff, who had already displayed his superior attain- 
ments in Masonry in the planning and building of the famous city 
of Palmyra. 

"He is said to have been an older Mason than Solomon, hav- 
ing been installed by Brahmin priests, in India, into the order, 
and received the higher degrees from the priests of Egypt." (See 
engraving at par. 1175.) 

929. Hence, we conclude this drawing is intended as a 
picture of such Hiram Abiff. 

930. It is a good likeness of a materialization several times 
presented to our circle and claiming to be Hiram Abiff. (821.) 

931. Then spirit Reed stood forth to our view, and wrote 
his No. 63, in his usually swift manner of execution of such 
work. (1551-1557.) 

Seance No. 105. 

November 3, 1897. 

932. At this seance we were very greatly honored with 
reincarnate psychic speech, writing, and drawing. 

933. Mr. Pratt had written and placed upon the psychic 
writing-desk two questions. 

933J. Spirit Denton stood forth at the desk, took therefrom 
the two questions, and handed them to the secretary, saying: 
"Please read those questions aloud, and I will try to speak to 
them, and the Doctor [Reed] will endeavor to touch upon them 
in writing." 

934. "When a spirit is born into this life, it is ignorant; 
but it does not remain so, nor does it retain its gains when age 
approaches. It is said, however, that when separated from this 
stage of life it gains rapid! v. Why? How are the changes 
effected?" 

935. "We see you write, but see only your fingers do the act; 
though it is evident to us that you use some sharp-pointed in- 
strument. Will you please explain how you write? also the 
composition of the ink you use, how do you make it, how different 
colors, and so forth?" 

930. To the question at 934, Denton, through the trumpet, 
in good oral tones, made his No. 37. (2233.) 

937. On a former occasion the control Bessie told us that 
Dr. Reed told her that the artist said he would endeavor to 
sketch a few friends, in spirit life, of the various members of 
the circle, for the test purpose of recognition. So this evening 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 175 

the artist took a new tablet, furnished by J. H. Pratt, and by 
him known to be entirely clear of any sketching or writing what- 
ever, and, in some less than 2 minutes from the first appearance 
of the artist, he tore two leaves from that tablet and gave those 
two leaves to the secretary, in sight of the whole circle. 

938. The secretary presented the same to Mr. Pratt, and 
he recognized on one of those leaves a beautiful crayon sketch 
of his spirit mother. (Set in at par. 36.) 

On the other leaf was a sketch likeness of his father, but 
that is not set in the book. 

941. The chemical control, Reed, then took the same tablet 
and wrote, in part, upon the question at par. 934, making his 
No. 64. (1558-1562.) 

942. Then there stood one at the desk, whom we did not 
recognize until he spoke, saying: "Hello, Pratt. Good-evening, 
Nixon." Upon which we knew the spirit as our friend T. J. 
Haughey, who was with us seven years ago when we began this 
work, but is now in spirit life. He wrote in the tablet Transi- 
tion No. 2. (Set out at pars. 2873-2888.) 

The seance opened by reading Mr. Pratt's questions: 

943. "The orthodox worship a God having attributes of all 
power. They worship Him with a profuse devotion, which He 
enjoys; and, they think, returns blessings in compensation. Are 
they not mistaken in their estimates of God and His attributes?' 
Does not their blessing, when any, spring from natural causes?" 

944 "They say that the spirit world is a duplicate of this: 
having trees of various forms; grasses of various textures; flowers: 
of various hues; water that is in pools, rivers, lakes, seas, and 
oceans; birds of every plumage. Is it so?" 

Answered at par. 1167. 



Seance No. 106. 

November 6, 1897. 

945. The artist appeared at the desk in the arena, and in 
his usual manner sketched a form which the controls said was 
standing in the cabinet door, but no one of the circle could dis- 
cern any form at all, at the time, in the cabinet door, or any- 
where in the room, except the spirit artist and the various per- 
sons of the circle. 

946. But the artist made a sketch which the controls tell us 
is a portrait of Omar, one father-in-law and successor to Moham- 
med. (See Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 1, page 60; and The 
New People's Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, page 1276.) (1141.) 

947. No. 18, a female form not recognized. 

948. Spirit Denton now stood forth in the arena and made 
his discourse No. 38. denying the alleged theory of A. J. Davis: 
"That the mind, with the body, is dropped from the spirit at 



176 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



transition, and is not a concomitant of the spirit thereafter." 
(2239.) 

949. E. V. Wilson and Dr. Reed wrote, in answer to the 
question at par. 943, Reed's No. 65 (15G3) and Wilson's No. 3 
(1219-1225). 

Seance No. 107. 

November 10, 1897. 

950. Spirit E. V. Wilson gave his writing No. 4; subject, 
"Capital Punishment/' (1226-1227.) 

951. Dr. Reed felt sorrowful that conditions were unfavor 
able this evening to the production of valuable phenomena, but 
said he would do the best possible. 

952. Spirit Denton stood forth and is given this subject: 
"In vision the object seen is impressed, inverted, upon the retina, 
which, acting on the brain, becomes cognizant bv the mind. Is 



Upon this, this 



this brought about bv force?" (See par. 2242.) 
spirit delivered his lecture No. 39. 

953. Then a spirit, Dr. J. B. 
Lamb (324, 957), arose in the 
arena ; his widow, Mrs. Lamb, of 
Parsons, Kas., who, with her 
husband, Dr. Lamb, visited some 
seances of our first series, was 
present again; but the Doctor, 
now on the spirit side, is also 
present, so that husband in spir- 
it and wife jet in mortal hold a 
kind of reunion, he telling her, 
in good oral speech, as he stands 
before her in materialized form, 

954. That when he left the 
body, he was prepared to go; 
and found, on the other side, a 
beautiful, a glorious home pre- 
pared not only for him, but for 
her as well ; that it is to be their 
happy lot to continue on as one 
in spirit life as they had done 

on earth; and that he would sacredly keep that home in good 
repair until she, too, should be called away from the decaying 
earthly house; and how glorious would be her welcome, her recep- 
tion, her rest with him, united evermore, no tongue could tell to 
mortal ears. "So be assured that all is well. Good-night, dear 
wife." 

955. This seance gave us portrait No. 19, of an unrecog- 
nized lady, and No. 20, recognized by Dr. Gile and Mrs. Lamb 
as one Augustus Wilson, late of Parsons, Kansas. (2910.) 




DR. J. B. LAMB. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 177 

956. Also a sketch of a spirit home, in answer to Mr. 
Pratt's question at par. 944. (Placed at par. 1108.) 

Seance No. 108. 

November 13, 1897. 

957. Dr. Reed informs us that the artist desires to do his 
work first, while magnetic conditions are best. 

Thereupon the artist stood forth at the desk in the arena, 
while Dr. Lamb stood in the cabinet door. The artist did sketch- 
ing as usual, and so soon as the circle saw the work, all who had 
known Dr. Lamb in the physical exclaimed: "What a complete 
portrait that is of Dr. Lamb !" And this is sketch No. 22. 
(Placed at par. 953.) The artist then made sketch No. 23 (1057), 
which Mr. Pratt recognized as that of Thomas H. Benton. Mr. 
Pratt had some personal acquaintance with Senator Benton while 
Benton was jet in the physical. (Set in at par. 1167.) 

958. A few days ago this medium and Mr. Pratt were ex- 
perimenting in psychic photography. Mr. Pratt put a plate in 
the holder and closed it and had Mr. Aber take hold of it for a 
few seconds, until informed by raps on the holder that the work 
on the part of the spirits was done; then Mr. Pratt and Mr. Aber 
developed the plate in the usual w r ay, and there came out on the 
plate the picture of a star, and on the plate below the star the 
words, "Star Circle." 

At this seance Mr. Pratt asked his question No. 6: 

959. "What is the significance of the Star Circle, in the 
light of the spirit?" 

960. And, in answer, Dr. Reed makes his writing No. 66. 
(Found at 1567-1568.) 

961. Then Wesley Aber made his writing at pars. 2801- 
2805. on "Honesty" — Diogenes and his honest man. 

962. Mr. Pratt's question, asking Judge W. R. Wao:staff 
and one spirit Jarboe to give us a written account of their transi- 
tions, is answered that at some opportune moment they will 
endeavor so to do. (2889-2898.) 

963. Mr. Pratt asks: "Will spirit Denton tell us what is 
life and its origin?" 

964. Denton, replying through the trumpet, made his lecture 
No. 40. (2247.) 

Seance No. 109. 

November 17, 1897. 

965. According to promise, the artist this evening ^ives us 
the likeness in pencil sketch of Judge Wm. Wagstaff, No. 24. (Set 
in at par. 2898.) 

966. And a portrait of V. C. Jarboe, an old acquaintance 
of Mr. Pratt. (Set in at par. 2889.) 



178 RENDING TEE TAIL. 

967. Some reader may say: "What is Judge Wagstaff or 
V. C. Jarboe to me? Why cumber the record with matter like 
this? 1 ' 

968. The value of these sketches of persons in spirit life who 
were known to us while they were in the mortal is this: These 
controls and artist have given us, both by photograph and crayon, 
pictures that are alleged to be true likenesses of historical per- 
sons of antiquity. Now, if these alleged spirit artists give us cor- 
rectly, or very approximately so, likenesses of those known to 
us, it is evident to us that what they give us of those we do not 
know is very likely near correct. 

969. Transition No. 3. (2890-2897.) Here Mr. Jarboe is 
again. 

970. The reader may say: "Who is this Jarboe? Of what 
interest is his experience to me?" 

971. The reader should remind himself that it makes no dif 
ference what the name or who the spirit; so that it be the prob- 
able experience of some spirit, it sets out an experience, a knowl- 
edge of which might be utilized by the reader as applicable more 
or less to his own future, according as he may wisely use the 
lesson. 

972. Spirit Dr. Reed left us his manuscript No. 67 (1569- 
1580), in answer to Mr. Pratt's questions: 

973. "Is not God evolved from nature, and man the highest 
expression of such evolution? Has not man ever worshiped such 
God or Gods — that is, himself unknown?" 

974. "Man resists innovation or change; he will be active 
to resist any higher alma mater than his fathers; in this he is 
not wise, as he makes the progress of the race slow. If this pos- 
tulation is correct, where is the compensating good?" 

975. "Is not Spiritualism the first religion known that has 
venerated and worshiped the boundless Infinite? Is not that the 
ultimate of man's evolution?" 

976. Spirit Denton answered through the trumpet, and con- 
tinued, in answer to criticisms of some who claim it absurd to 
even suppose the materialization of thirty or forty forms at a 
single seance, for it would require all the material of all the bod- 
ies of the sitters and annihilate the medium altogether; making 
his oration No. 41. (2249.) 

Seance No. 110. 

November 20, 1897. 

977. Mr. Pratt's questions: "If man partakes of the nature 
of the Infinite, it is in his intelligence and moral nature, is it not?" 

978. "Are not the driving faculties moral, too, when viewed 
from the summit of their conceptions? In fact, it requires every 
faculty of the human soul to constitute the perfect ego, does it 
not?" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 179 

979. "The sine qua non of life being to round out all the fac- 
ulties, can any life be perfect not threaded on this line?" 

980. Denton stood forth and asked for the questions. The 
secretary read them as above. 

981. A form appeared at the writing-desk and wrote. The 
controls informed the circle that it was Wesley Aber, writing his 
No. 7. (2806-2811.) 

Then Denton proceeded to speak his oration No. 42. (2252.) 

982. In answer to the request of Mr. Pratt, the materializa- 
tion of Judge Wm. Wagstaff stood at the desk in the arena, and 
wrote his transition account, being No. 4. (2900-2909.) 

983. One very marked feature of this evening was that 
spirit Wesley Aber stepped out of the cabinet at the southeast 
corner while the circle was singing the hymn entitled "Gathering 
up the Shells from the Sea-Shore," the pianist playing an 
accompaniment. 

The spirit Wesley took the trumpet, and through it joined 
in the singing, uttering the words of the poetry to the music so 
loudly as to be distinctly heard by all the circle, although all 
were singing loudly and the piano was playing with full volume 
of sound. 

984. The wonderful melody of that trumpet singing is not 
outrivaled by the best cornet soloists. None but those who hear 
this melodious feast of our seances can possibly realize the en- 
chanting occurrence. 

985. A spirit from immortal life, standing in our sight, hold- 
ing a trumpet in his hands and to his mouth, and uttering such 
delightful music — the soul is so enraptured by the heavenly 
melody! Mortal tongue nor pen cannot describe the grandness of 
such a supreme moment. 

986. The artist gave us a sketch, unrecognized, though a 
neat work to be sketched in such a short time. 

(a) When the artist was ready to commence this picture, 
he sent a spirit with the tablet to the secretary to critically 
examine, which the secretar} 7 and Mr. Pratt did do as carefully 
as they could, finding no marks, writing, or sketches of any kind 
on any leaf at the time remaining in the tablet so examined. 
This tablet was placed on the writing-desk, and the artist made 
and handed to the secretary his work as stated above. 

987. A crucial test case: As the artist began another por- 
trait the control said: "Mr. Secretary, the artist wishes you to 
come up to the writing-desk. " Accordingly the secretary took his 
position, standing 1 near to and on the east side of the desk. The 
spirit artist, on the west side of the desk, took the tablet, sketched 
a moment on a leaf of the same, tore that leaf out, and held it up 
in his left hand so that the light shone squarely on the paper; the 
artist, with his pencil in his right hand, pointed to an outline on 
the paper, saying to the secretary in broken English: "See, no 
finish." 



180 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



Secretary: "I see the outline." 

Spirit: ''Now look here and look at the cabinet door.-' 

988. In the cabinet door there stood a form while the artist 
finished up the picture, holding that single leaf in his left hand 
out in the open air, simply grasping the leaf at the left side be- 
tween the thumb and fingers, using a common lead pencil in the 
right hand. 

989. In this position, with that pencil, the spirit filled in the 
picture to completeness, and all in the clear sight of the secre- 
tary, the paper so held by the spirit as that the light shone 
squarely upon the picture the whole time of the filling in, which 
was 45 or 50 seconds. 

990. When the sketching was complete, the spirit handed 

the paper to the secretary, say- 
ing, in very broken English: 
-That is all.'" 

991. This picture was recog- 
nized as a likeness of one of 
two Sisters of Charity that a 
few years ago resided at Ar- 
gentine, Kansas, and at times 
received for their charity fund 
contributions from Mr. Green- 
up. Both Mr. and Mrs. Greenup 
recognized the picture. At a 
former seance there stood forth 
in materialized form one that 
the circle said had the appear- 
ance of a Sister, and this sketch 
resembles the appearance to us 
of that apparition. 

992. The movements of the 
spirit's right hand while filling 
in the picture were so rapid as 

seem only a quiver or very rapid tremble. 

We suppose the controls here desire, as far as possible, 
to teach that Spiritualism is no respecter of persons or creeds, 
but that the "Good Samaritan'' is my father, my mother, my sis- 
ter, my brother, regardless of "theological machinery." 




SISTER ANN. 



(987-992. 



Seance No. 111. 

November 24, 1897. 

993. Of Mr. Pratt's series: "Is there anything lost to the 
memory of man? If not, there is a clue to when and by whom 
the Old and New Testaments were written. And if so, will you 
please give it?" 

994. "Which the older civilization, the Chaldean or Egyp- 
tian? Were they both Semitic? How did the Egyptians construct 



REX DING THE TAIL. 181 

the pyramids? or, what did they employ to convey and elevate 
stones of such weight to their position in the pyramid?" 

995. Spirit Denton spoke to par. 993, his oration Xo. 43. 
(2257-2260.) 

996. Then a form took the trumpet, and at once was recog- 
nized as Thomas Paine, saying: "Good-evening, friends. I am 
glad to meet you again. This is not my first visit in this way. 

(a) "I lived before your time. 

(b) "I spoke of matters as I saw them, then. 

(c) "I knew only, in a very general way of a future life, 
and possibility of spirit return. 

(d) "I felt that man needed assistance out of darkness, and 
used the means that I then saw to assist him. 

(e) "And I now find that my efforts were of some avail and 
did some good ; and that it was the best I could then have done. 

if) "I know more now, but what I now know would have 
proven of no more benefit to people then than what I did mete 
out intended for the good of man; which, to a good degree, has so 
proven." 

997. As Paine went down the spirit artist rose at the desk, 
and had the controls call the secretary to take his stand near to 
the desk, the spirit, and the tablet — the tablet being on the desk, 
visible to the secretary. 

998. The artist took a lead pencil, made some mark on a 
leaf of the tablet, then tore the leaf off, and held the leaf in such 
a position as to show the outline of a portrait plainly to the sec- 
retary; and, holding this leaf in his left hand, still in the sight 
of the secretary, and with the pencil in his right hand, the spirit 
filled in the outline and handed the paper to the secretary. 

999. The secretary and other members of the circle discerned 
a form of human shape standing in the cabinet door during the 
work of the artist at the desk. 

1000. The circle know that neither the artist nor the form 
in the cabinet door is or can possibly be one of the circle or any 
confederate of the medium. And this design, sketch No. 28, is 
what was put upon that paper, as before said, in less time than 
1 minute, and was recognized, by all who knew him in life, as a 
good likeness of the late Judge Thacher, of Lawrence, Kansas. 
(See his transition, at par. 2940.) 

1001. In like manner the artist produced the portrait at 
par. 1169, as a rough expression of the appearance of a spirit 
home as it is realistic in spirit life. This picture was made in 
about 70 seconds, and may be the outline of a view as presented 
to spirit Thacher at transition. 

Seance No. 112. 

November 27. 1S97. 
At this seance the artist made for ns two pencil portraits. 



182 RENDING- THE TAIL. 

1002. One of which was alleged by the controls to be a cor- 
rect likeness of Mohammed (at paragraph 1132) ; and, to show the 
probable truth of such claims, we have given us immediately 
a portrait, 

1003. Which we at once recognize as a good likeness of 
one of our neighbors two or three years ago passed to spirit life. 

1001. Both of these portraits were drawn by the spirit while 
standing at the desk and about 3J feet from the secretary, and 
both were sketched in as near 2 minutes as we could determine. 

1005. The secretary and some other members of the cir- 
cle could distinctly see the sketching proceed upon the paper 
while the paper was being held in the left hand of the spirit, and 
with a common lead pencil held by the right hand of the spirit. 

1006. The entire circle could see the spirit at the desk, the 
secretary near by, and a third form of human shape in the cabinet 
door during the writing. The form in the cabinet door is not a 
confederate; there is no chance for confederates without the 
knowledge of any or all of the circle. 

1007. Then there are very few persons in the mortal that 
could duplicate the sketching of these two pictures in 2 minutes 
by one person. 

1008. Mr. Pratt's questions: "Does man, in spirit life, pos- 
sess the same faculties and traits of character as in this life?" 

1009. "Why do some spirits report seven spheres and others 
eleven or more of human existence?" 

1010. "Why is man confronted by such environments as to 
produce such extremes as that one person lives a virtuous and 
another a vicious life?" 

1011. Answered bv spirit Faradav in his writing No. 29. 
(2703.) 

1012. Spirit Denton arose with trumpet in hand, and spoke 
to the question of how the immense blocks of stone were moved 
and set into the Egvptian pyramids, making his oration No. 44. 
(2261.) 

1013. Then that person whom we recognized as spirit 
Thomas Paine stood to view in our midst, speaking through the 
trumpet, and asked that we give him a subject. 

1014. "The Kesult of the Present Political Agitation in this 
Countrv" was suggested, to which this spirit made his oral effort 
No. 30. (2590.) 

1014^. Augustus Wilson gave his transition paper No. 5. 
(2912-2920.) 

Seance No. 113. 

December 1, 1897. 

1015. "Has the earth belts or zones as have Jupiter and 
Saturn? If so, their use?" 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 



183 




DEBORAH HUPP. 



1016. "Has this earth always existed iii near its present 
condition? If so, has man always been an inhabitant thereof?" 

1017. Does man perpetually grow in knowledge from the 
molecule state by action of his 

innate intelligence?" 

1018. To questions at para- 
graphs 1015 and 1016 Prof. 
Denton made his oration No. 
45, and referred farther an- 
swer to 

1019. Wesley, and he wrote 
thereon his No. 8. (2812-2815.) 

1020. We have given us tran- 
sition No. 6, as that of Kate M. 
Huxley. (2923.) 

1021. Then the artist made, 
in his usual manner, sketch Xo. 
32, of a personage we did not 
recognize. The artist said the 
make-up was so poor that he 
could not get the portrait very 
clearly. 

1022. Then the artist gave 
this sketch, recognized as Deb- 
orah Hupp. 

This portrait is a very good likeness of one of our neighbors 
who passed to spirit life some five years prior to the date of this 
seance; and among the complications of disease in this case was 
a goitre excrescence. 

(a) The reader will observe this goitre clearly set out in 
the portrait, the head being turned a little to one side in ord^r 
to show more plainly the location, on the neck, where the excres- 
cence was located. 

(b) The portrait also shows a condition of sadness almost 
painful to one looking at the portrait. 

(c) This lady was about the prime of life when called to the 
morning land. Her life here had been one of great hardships, 
turmoil, and disappointments. She left a large family of children 
with her husband and oldest daughter to care for them. 

(d) To leave these children when they most needed a 
mother's care, and for whom she had toiled early and late for 
years, was hard to do. 

(e) She had had an opportunity to know something of the 
country to which she had to go, but, instead, she listened to the 
minister who says he ''don't know,'' and that any person who tries 
to find out is in "danger of hell fire, and therefore Spiritualism is 
diabolical." 

(f) Now she wants to reach her dear ones, but while on 
earth she helped to keep the gates closed. 



184 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

(g) All this and more throws a condition of sadness around 
this otherwise bright spirit. 

(h) This case, taken all together, is a wonderfully crucial 
test to us who know the facts. 

(i) To know that there is but one mortal in the cabinet; to 
know that there is no possible chance for a confederate in the 
mortal ; 

(j) To know that there is no possibility that any mortal can 
be in the room unknown to all or any of the circle; 

(k) To see an apparition known not to be any person in the 
mortal, to see this apparition stand out in one's clear sight, and 
while so standing tear a blank leaf from a blank tablet, and to 
see this apparition sketching on that blank leaf, and at the same 
time to see another apparition having the form and appearance of 
a woman standing in the cabinet door, as in the instance of this 
sketch, and a few feet from the sketching specter, and see that 
the sketching is continued but one minute of time; and 

(I) To know that the woman specter is not a mortal because 
of the impossibility for mortal woman to be there unknown to 
the circle; 

(m) And then to have the alleged artist hand forth that 
paper having upon it such a likeness of a known friend in spirit 
gone before with such disease and life experience, and all out- 
lined in that portrait, certainly ought to satisfy even a sceptical 
"Thomas." 

Seance No. 114. 

December 4, 1897. 

1023. "Man continues to grow so long as he intellectualizes. 
When that ceases, does he not become vicious?" 

1024. "It is claimed by some that the earth changes its polar- 
ity. If so, is it by slow degrees, or slow to a certain point, then 
very rapidly?" 

1025. "At the last seance we were informed that this earth 
began to populate thirty thousand or forty thousand years ago. 
How did it originate? Was it in a condition of heat that would 
germinate life? Was not wisdom foreshadowed from the union 
of the first atoms?'' 

1026. At the conclusion of the reading of the questions, Den- 
ton stood forth and made his oration No. 46, through the trumpet. 
(2265.) 

1027. Then, in answer to the other question, this spirit went 
to the desk and made his writing No. 45. (1902.) 

1028. Then Dr. Reed took the tablet and made his manu- 
script No. 68. (1581-1584.) 

1029. The artist, in his usual way, made a sketch in like- 
ness of a man, and one of a woman form; but neither one was rec- 
ognized by any of us, and they are therefore not inserted. 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 185 

Seance No. 115. 

December 8, 1897. 

1030. (a) "Why man's tendency to centralize?" 

(b) ''Why does man so persistently oppose that which is 
new?" 

(c) "Why does force, when successful, so readily change 
man's convictions?" 

1031. "Why did the Greek and Roman civilizations sink 
with the advance of sacerdotal Christianity?" 

1032. After reading the minutes of the proceedings of the 
last meeting, as is the custom, and also the reading of questions, 
and being about to pass the minutes as needing no amendment or 
correction, the cabinet control spoke to the question of amend- 
ment, and said the minutes give no account of Col. Booth, a spirit 
that was here, and said he was of Hillsboro, Texas, and that 
when on earth he was a lawyer and acquainted with this medium, 
and was glad to have this opportunity of meeting us, and would 
be glad to have his people know of his coming here. 

1033. There were two transitions written, and the secretary 
did not recognize who it was that wrote, so the controls say now 
that the longer of the two was by Augustus Wilson, whose picture 
was sketched for Mrs. Lamb ; and the other by Kate M. Huxley. 

1034. Then, as usual, Dr. Reed appeared in the cabinet door, 
greeting us in a whisper and hopeful of a good seance, as the circle 
seemed harmonious. 

1035. Then spirit Prof. Denton, through the trumpet, spoke 
aloud, making his oral effort No. 47, to questions at paragraphs 
1031 and 1032. (2274.) 

1036. Then spirit Wesley Aber stood forth to our sight, and. 
by the voice of the trumpet, said : 

"Good-evening, friends. I think I might talk a short time to 
you, about electricity. 

"When the nature and power of electricity first began to be 
declared by your investigators, the whole matter was scoffed and 
ridiculed until it almost made one dizzy to hear the wiseacres 
talk. But to-day is realized more than 100 per cent upon the wild- 
est claims of early electricians as to electrical possibilities. And 
now let me say to you that the next five years will see grander 
electrical achievements than any hitherto. Soon electricity will 
be the great motor-power of your earth. Railroading will be 
done almost entirely by electricity in the near future." 

1037. George W. Shelton said: "I am glad the guides 
allow me here. Rome of you know me by them. I wish to have 
my regards and greetings conveyed to my wife." 

1038. Harvey Mott was next recognized at the trumpet, say- 
ing through it: "I was 'cranky.' I did everything T could against 
this medium, but I find how great was my mistake. I have 



186 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



changed my mind about this medium. I was dissipated. My little 
daughter Essie went over, and my poor wife followed. That 
'broke me all up,' so I cared not when or how I should go out. 
All was so dark and clouded. But I am better now." 

1039. While cabinet manifestations, psychic writings, and 
psychic pencil sketchings were going on, Mrs. Aber, sitting in the 
circle, was entranced, and her control, Red Feather, using her or- 
ganism, was talking, singing, at repartee with different members 
of the circle; being of the Dakota tribe, he sang "The Dakota 
Land," to the merriment of all the circle and cabinet controls. 

1040. During this time the artist, in his usual mode, made 
sketch No. 36, recognized by the secretary as expressive of the 
individuality of his wife's people, on her mother's side. 
1041. Then the artist, at his 



«s# <r 



place in the arena, looked at 
a form that stood in the cabi- 
net door; the artist, holding the 
paper in his left hand and the 
pencil in his right hand, moved 
that pencil over that paper 
very rapidly for about 45 sec- 
onds, and gave the paper to 
one of the circle near by, who 
took the said sketching to the 
secretary. Mr. Pratt caught 
a glimpse of the picture and 
exclaimed: "Colonel John 0. 
Bundy!" and all the circle that 
had ever seen the Colonel 
joined in the exclamation: 
"ColonelJohn C. Bundy!" But 
why are we astonished at sight 
of this picture? 

(a) It will be remembered by 
those who were readers of the 
Religio-Philosophical Journal and Progressive Thinker, at the time, 
some eight years ago, when Col. Bundy and Prof. Hodgeson visited 
Mr. Pratt, with the purpose, as events led Mr. Pratt to believe, to 
expose Mr. Aber and thereby capture Mr. Pratt's f 500 prize offered 
for such exposure. They, after three or four days' time with the 
medium at Mr. Pratt's residence, failing to get Mr. Aber under 
their hypnotic influence, and therefore failing in this method of 
exposure, beat a hasty retreat, although Mr. Pratt urged them to 
tarry and investigate to the bottom, as scientists ought. But, in- 
stead, they went home and undertook to account for the matter on 
the ground of Mr. Pratt's circle of "swift recognizers." But ad- 
mitted that "oust shadowy forms" did appear in the cabinet door. 



Col. JOHN C. BUNDY. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 187 

1042. Now comes this same John C. Bundy from "the other 
side of Jordan" and presents himself a "shadowy form" at that 
same cabinet, and we catch a picture of that shadowy form and we 
"swift recognizers" again exclaim, "That is John C. Bundy!" 
sketched in less time than 1 minute, and we present this sketch, 
through Secretary Hodgeson, to the slowly-moving "Americo- 
European Psychic Kesearch Society,'' and hope they will have 
ample time to "recognize." (1052, 1053.) 

1043. A sketch is given and recognized as J. L. Greenup, 
father to J. M. Greenup. (Set in at paragraph 2930.) While on 
earth, this spirit resided in Monroe Count} 7 , Kentucky, and passed 
out some twenty-five years ago, having served forty-eight years 
of his life as a Methodist minister. 

1044. Prof. Denton made his writing No. 46 (1903) to the 
question at paragraph 1030. 

1045. Dr. Keed stepped to the desk, saying: "I have won- 
dered why you did not ask us something about insanity, so con- 
clude to write a little along that line." And then made his No. 
69. (1585-1590.) 

1046. James L. Greenup made transition writing No. 7. 
(2930.) 

Seance No. 116. 

December 11, 1897. 

1047. "The God of Christians created all things, fore- 
knew all things, created the devil, created good and evil. Who, 
if not this Omniscience, is responsible for the effects of these 
creations?" 

1048. "Is not the God of the orthodox Christians a myth? 
Who ever beheld such a God as the orthodox teach theirs to be? 
We understand that Father King, with his long life in spirit, has 
never been able to discern such a God." 

1049. "What effect will the anti-spiritualist movement have 
on the growth of Spiritualism?" 

After the reading of the minutes of the last seance, and 
above questions, 

1050. Spirit Dr. Reed, in direct whispered speech, while 
standing in the cabinet door, gave to us his benediction, set for- 
ward as his effort No. 76. (1630-1632.) 

1051. Spirit Denton made answer to the question at para- 
graph 1049, orally in part, and in part through the trumpet; and 
this effort is set forward as No. 48. (2278.) 

1052. There was some conversation in the circle touching 
the appearance and picture of Col. Bundy. and finally Mr. Pratt 
related how that the Colonel, when with Prof. Hodgson here. 
stood up and reluctantly confessed to clearly seeing the "shad- 
owy forms" — not solid forms, but "shadowy forms" — in Mr. 



188 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Aber's cabinet window. Be it remembered that Mr. Aber at that 
time had only developed to what we call cabinet window bust 
forms. Well, but if the Colonel saw "shadowy" and not solid 
forms, it was not Mr. Aber's solid body that was presented to 
the Colonel's discernment. Hence, when the Colonel saw that 
the "shadowy" forms were transparent and also translucent, he 
saw that his exposure was exposed, and he must either come 
down or get away and "throw mud." We all know more now. 

1053. Then spirit Denton joined us in this conversation, 
saying: "I was acquainted with that man when we were both 
in the mortal. It was his disposition to tear down. He seemed 
not much inclined to build up. Hence, on failure to tear down, he 
would retreat, attempting to cover the same by constant fusillad- 
ing until well out of danger. And he is of that nature yet, to a 
large enough degree. But he now sees it his duty to help build 
up this that he failed to tear down, and we and you should bid 
him welcome and be glad to have him here and wherever he 
can do good. He is brightening in spirit, and much of his works 
do follow him to his credit here." 

1054. Then Denton stood forth again, and, by voice of the 
trumpet, made his oratorical effort at paragraph 2278, in answer 
to questions at paragraphs 1047 and 1048. 

1055. He then took the pencil and tablet and wrote ex- 
plicitlv in further answer to the questions, making his written 
effort No. 46^. (1908.) 

1056. As Denton vanished Reed appeared, writing his No. 
70. (1591-1594.) 

1057. As Reed disappeared the artist took his place at the 
desk and sketched the picture of a lady unrecognized. 

1058. Then a form stood in front of the cabinet and talked 
in a whisper; then in partial oral tones it said: "Hello, Pratt." 
The circle recognized this form as that of T. J. Haughey, and at 
the same time the artist was at the desk sketching, both forms 
being in sight of the circle. AYhen finished, the artist sent the 
sketch to the secretary by one of the circle that sat near to the 
desk. The bearer of the sketch so held it that while passing to 
the secretarv the circle saw what was there, and all exclaimed: 
"Captain Haughey !" (2871.) 

1059. Here stands a form we recognize as that of T. J. 
Haughey ; over there, at the desk, some 5 feet away from the first 
form, we see another form busy sketching; this form says he is 
sketching the first form; the whole circle see both of these forms 
at the same time. 

1060. In near 1 minute of time from the beginning of sketch- 
ing the artist handed that picture to the scrutiny of the circle, 
and that picture is a good likeness of T. J. Haughey and of the 
form that stood in front of the cabinet. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 189 

Seance No. 117. 

December 15, 1897. 

1061. ''Greek and Roman civilizations were developed by 
their mythologies; Jewish, from Abraham, by instruction and 
direct espionage of the God the Christians worship. Which of 
these is the higher and deeper?" 

10G2. At the close of the reading of this question, spirit 
Denton arose at the desk in the arena, took from a tablet a leaf, 
and passed the leaf to the secretary for examination. The secre- 
tary and Mr. Pratt examined that leaf, and found no trace of 
writing on either side of it. The secretary took that leaf to the 
desk where the spirit was standing and gave that same blank leaf 
to the spirit, upon which the spirit then and there wrote and gave 
it back to the secretary, who, in sight of the circle, examined that 
leaf, and then found one side written full as Denton's writing 
No. 47. (1909.) 

1063. Let the reader examine and consider that writing; 
for, to the secretary at least, it is a test beyond question of the 
fact that this writing is beyond mortal power to duplicate in 
manner of production. The execution of the writing (more than 
six times as swiftly as the most expert penman in the mortal 
could do), the matter of this writing, the show of intellectuality 
and general information — all, relatively to like powers of any 
person in or about the premises, make of this, to this scribe, a 
crucial test of the psychic claim. Of course the reader will say, 
or may say, "This case is all right if the matter as set out here 
is true." But what is here stated to be the experience of this 
circle may be the experience in fact of any earnest seeker after 
truth who will himself be at the same pains to know. 

1061. When Denton had done this writing, he spoke, by 
voice of the trumpet, aloud, to question No. 29, his discourse 
No. 49. (2279.) 

1065. Little Nellie then stood at the desk and reached up 
and wrote thus: 

"Dood evening dear foalks in the circle Dr Reed told me 
what to write and how to spell all the words i am awful glad 
to write to you because i like every body in the circle i am too 
tired to write anv more dood bv 

(Signed) "Nellie." 

1066. Reed makes his writing No. 71. (1595-1600.) 

1067. Then the artist gave, in his usual way, a good likeness 
of the form called Blue Water, of the Sioux Indians, Mr. Aber's 
Indian control. (1156.) 

1068. And a sketch in likeness of the general features of 
the Nixon family; in most respects a good likeness of Toms 
Nixon, father to the secretary. (203.) 

13 — 



190 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Seance No. 118. 

December 18, 1897. 

1069. "Is it not chemical action that forms water?" 

1070. Spirit Wesley Aber made answer in writing, being 
his writing No. 9. (2816-2821.) 

1071. Transition No. 8, by Solon O. Thacher. (2942-2948.) 
1071^. Mr. Pratt had asked that T. J. Haughey inform ns 

of what certain parties think concerning Spiritualism, since their 
transition, and now spirit Haughey stands to our view in a tem- 
porary "reincarnation," and, in an independent loud whisper, 
says: 

"Say, Pratt, I have not met those parties here. They are 
not where I am. They, I suppose, are making a search after God; 
or, at least, some of them are, and fail to find Him as they ex- 
pected He would be found." 

Haughey: "Say, Nixon, ain't this glorious?" 

Nixon: "Most certainly it is." 

Haughey: "And say, Nixon, can you think of anything more 
glorious than this, of conveying to mortals the good news of im- 
mortal life?" 

Nixon: "My feeble tongue or pen cannot portray the inef- 
fable delight that I feel when confronted with the realistic pres- 
ence of the hosts of the denizens of spirit life." 

Haughey: "Say, Nixon, you heard about my funeral?" 

Nixon: "Oh, yes. Well, how did you like the services?" 

Haughey: "Say, Pratt, that was rather tame, was it not?" 

Pratt: "I should say so." 

Haughey: "Well, it is no difference to what department 
they consigned me. I am here, now, and able to talk for myself." 

1072. The artist sketched portrait No. 43, as of the form 
of a man ; 

1073. And No. 44, of a woman. 

1074. A strange form to us appeared and announced the 
name "Theodosius." 

Seance No. 119. 

December 22, 1897. 

1075. "What are the grades that we strike on our birth into 
the other life? 

(a) "Do sin and iniquity leave scars that are nearly indelible? 

(b) "Or is sin, as soon as we cease its commission, forgotten 
and forgiven? That seems to be the law." 

1076. "Is it the design of zones around the earth to be the 
dwelling-place of those who are to be spirit? the outer belts for 
those who have become more refined?" 

1077. To the question at paragraph 1075 spirit Reed replied 
in writing, his No. 72 (1601-1607.) 



RENDING TEE TAIL. 191 

1078. And Denton replied to the question at paragraph 
1076, in writing, his No. 48. (1014.) 

1070. Then spirit Denton again stood forth to our view, and 
spoke of an exposing lecture that is going on at the Presbyterian 
church, his No. 49£. (2280.) 

1080. Prof. M. Faraday, being announced by Bessie, stood 
forth in the cabinet door to our view, and, while so standing, 
the artist stepped to the writing-desk and sketched with rapid 
motions for some 45 seconds, and both spirits instantly vanished 
from our sight. 

1081. We found a portrait of the form that stood in the 
cabinet door during the sketching pictured on the paper that the 
artist used for sketching upon. (His No. 45, set in at par. 2502.) 

1082. And again the artist appears and a form in the cab- 
inet door which Bessie says is Wagner, the musician. The artist 
looked at this apparition and sketched some half a minute, 
handed the sketch of the alleged Wagner to the secretary, and 
both spirits vanished. This is No. 40. 



Seance No. 120. 

December 25, 1807. 
10S3. "Were there angels before man? 

(a) "Is there anything superior to man in this world or the 
universe ? 

(o) "Can you know of that you cannot see or traverse?" 

1084. To this triple question Reed made answer in writing, 
his No. 73. (1608-1600.) 

1085. Then spirit Weslev Aber wrote his No. 10. (2822- 
2825 c.) 

1086. When Wesley had done writing and gone, a small 
child form stood in the cabinet door, and the artist, at his place, 
made a sketch. No. 47, and gave it to Mr. Greenup, who recog- 
nized the work as a. good portrait of his child Alice, who passed 
out at 15 months. (This portrait is set in at par. 1166.) 

1087. A dim, shadowy form was at the cabinet door, and 
the artist gave us a sketch of another of Mr. Aber's Indian 
controls. 

Seance No. 121. 

December 20th. 1S97. 

1088. "Have you books, papers, periodicals, and libraries in 
the spirit world? If so, 

(a) "Do they pertain to any sphere?'" 

10S0. "Do spirits subsist as do mortals?" Reed answers in 
No. 74. (1610-1614.) 

1000. To the question at paragraph loss we received the 
writing of Wesley Aber, No. 11. (2826-2831.) 



192 RENDING THE TAIL. 

1091. Question by Mr. Greenup: "Was the falling of the 
stars November 13, 1833, caused in fulfillment of Biblical proph- 
ecy, as claimed by some?" 

1092. Spirit Denton answered by voice of the trumpet, and, 
with an apostrophe to music, made his discourse No. 50. (2290.) 

1092J. The artist, while standing in front of the cabinet, at 
the south end, where the light in the room is best, sketched a 
picture, recognized by Mrs. Greenup as a likeness of one Mr. 
Evans, one of her old acquaintances, who on some account sui- 
cided out at Colorado. (Set in at par. 1615.) 

1093. The artist, without changing attitude, sketched the 
picture of some woman form, but it was not recognized. 

Seance No. 122. 

January 1, 1898. 
1093^. Spirit Keed announced that, "on account of having 
held a materializing seance the previous evening, the medium 
will not give out enough psychic force to enable controls to exe- 
cute phenomena on this occasion; therefore we shall attempt but 
little." 

1094. "Why such diversity, among men, to intellectual 
development?" 

1095. Weslev answered, bv voice of the trumpet, his No. 
12. (2832-2841.) 

1096. Then, placing the trumpet on the floor, at the south 
«ide of the room, this spirit returned into the cabinet, and imme- 
diately stood at the writing-desk at the center of the west side of 
the room, saying, in oral tones: "I believe I will try to write 
upon 'Dreams.' That is a subject, I think, has not yet been fully 
treated here; and, I believe, would be of some interest. So, if 
you all say so, I will write somewhat of the dream phenomena. " 

The circle all expressing a desire for such a writing, the spirit 
wrote and handed to the secretary the writing No. 13. (2842- 
2846.) 

1097. Wesley Aber was not a scientist in the mortal; he 
was, however, a telegrapher. But the whole scientific band, here, 
finding this spirit able to handle this means of intercourse, some- 
times make him their "Aaron," as it were, speaking for them. 

1098. The artist, standing at the center of the room, on the 
south side, made a sketch, and handed it to the secretary (picture 
^Nfo. 51), as the likeness of a young man not yet recognized; 

1099. And then, at the desk in the arena, sketched No. 52, of 
-a woman not yet recognized. 

Seance No. 123. 

January 5, 1898. 

1100. Denton, by "voice of the trumpet, long and loud." 
uttered his discourse No. 51, summing up the work here, and of 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 19$ 

it constructing a syllogism for the scientific world to consider. 
And the reader should read and reread this voice of immortality. 
(2270.) 

1101. Then Wesley took the trumpet and spoke at some 
length of the advantages of a previous knowledge of the truths 
of Spiritualism to a person just being initiated into spirit life; 
then he took up a tablet and continued the subject in writing, his 
No. 14. (2817-2848 /.) 

1102. Then the artist, with his usual swiftness of execution, 
made portraits Xo. 53, 51, and 55, respectively. Each spirit being 
sketched stood at the cabinet door, but was not so distinctly seen 
by the circle as usual. 

One of these is a good likeness of J. L. Greenup as he appears 
when standing before us. (Set in at par. 2930.) Mr. Greenup re- 
marked: "I know who that is that the artist is sketching.'' 

When the picture was completed, the spirit artist walked a 
distance of 10 or more feet to the secretary and gave to him the 
sketch; then he returned to the writing-desk and made a second 
portrait, recognized as the late Judge Herman, of Olathe, Kan- 
sas (set in at par. 1616) ; and a third, not recognized. 

Seance No. 12 l h 

January 8, 1898. 

1104. "Are all on an equality in every way when freed from: 
earth and its entanglements?" 

1105. Denton, by trumpet voice, said: "The gentleman has 
several questions this evening. All of them have been more or 
less discussed here. Perhaps I had better shape them all into one 
and answer in writing. Will that do?" 

Circle answer: "All right." 

1106. Then the spirit took up a tablet and pencil and wrote 
and handed to the secretary his Xo. 49. (1920.) 

1107. Spirit Eeed stood forth with trumpet in hand, and 
voiced through it, as touching suicide; then he wrote and 
talked at the same time, making his effort No. 75. (1617-162!).; 
This effort the reader will find rather marvelous. 

1108. An alleged spirit form writes 522 words while, at the 
same time, at the ordinary rate of conversation, speaking only 
250 words; and. too, a portion of the writing is in the same words 
as the spoken effort. Both compositions compare favorably with 
common literature, and the thought expressed is indicative of 
high mentality. Is there any mortal who, in his or her normal 
condition, can duplicate this effort Xo. 75 of the alleged spirit 
Eeed? 

1109. Then Sam Schmidt appeared in the cabinet doorway, 
in material make-up, declaring that "to-nocht my picture moosht 
pe made." Then the specter danced to the south end of the cab- 
inet, and there showed how he was dressed, having a cap upon 
his head, and all ready for his portrait to be drawn. 



194 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 



1110. Now the spirit artist appeared, looked at Sam, and 
very rapidly sketched away in the tablet, tore the leaf from the 
book, and handed it to the secretary. This portrait, which the 
whole circle see, is an unmistakable likeness of the form of the 
specter that stood and frequently stands before us, claiming to 
be the Dutchman Sam Schmidt, the medium's trance and collo- 
quial control. Let the reader compare this picture with that of the 
medium and mark the wonderful dissimilarity. (1160.) 

The most astounding test case of the psychic claims of these 
crayon designs, so far experienced by this circle, is this one set 
^>ut at paragraph 1111 of seance No. 124, January 8, 1898, to-wit: 

1111. When the artist had finished the sketch of Sam (see 
-pars. 1109-1110), and Sam had gone, but the spirit artist at his desk 
in the arena was still standing in sight of the circle, suddenly 
there appeared an apparition in the similitude of a man, standing 
in front of the curtains at the cabinet doorway. The whole circle 
.(ten persons) see the apparition that stands in the cabinet door, 

and at the same time see the apparition of the artist busily 
sketching, then look at the form at the cabinet door and sketch 
again; and at the end of thirty pulse-beats from the time the 
artist began the sketching, he handed the sketch of this portrait 
to the secretary, aud the secretary at once presented the picture 

in the bright light, so all the 
circle could see the work; and 
as Mr. Pratt took hold of the 
sketch to more closely examine 
it, then the apparition that was 
sketched moved right up to the 
feet of Mr. Pratt, and now there 
stood by this man apparition 
the form of a woman, and some 
oue of the circle exclaimed: 
"Who are you, anyway?" And 
the man specter, pointing to Mr. 
Pratt, said: "Let Howard Pratt 
see if he knows me." And 
Mr. Pratt excitedly exclaimed: 
"Oh, yes; you are William H. 
Eavenscraft. You were a tan- 
ner. You came to father's 
house, in Kentucky, and as- 
sisted us in the tannery; and 
you and my sister were finally 
married." 
Here the man specter turned and looked at the spirit woman 
that was standing at his left hand, and as he did so Mr. Pratt 
said to the woman: "I know you, also. You are my sister." 
Then Mr. Pratt said to the circle: "This woman is my sister. 



WM. H. EAVENSCRAFT. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 195 

whose maiden name was America Melvina Pratt, and she mar- 
ried this Wni. H. Kavenseraft, who passed to the spirit world 
about February, 1857, leaving his wife and several children. 
The wife survived to 1870. Several of their children are yet 
living. The family remained in Ohio." And then all three of the 
spirits vanished, and left the circle to wonder and query: "What 
next?" 

1112. The reader may sav : "Who is this Kavenseraft? 
What is he to me?" 

1113. The name does not, of course, concern the reader only 
in this: Every sane person has had friends, who were near and 
dear, close their mortal life, and is concerned to know, if possible, 
concerning them. The same pains that reveal to Mr. Pratt will 
also reveal similar truth to the reader. 



Seance No. 125. 

January 12, 1898. 

1114. Denton makes query as to whether we have a sub- 
ject. We answ r er that we have not, and will be satisfied to ac- 
cept whatever offering the spirits have in store for us, at this 
time. The spirit replied, "Very well," and stepped back into the 
cabinet to consult with the chemical control and scientific man- 
ager of these seances. 

We hear whispered conversation in the cabinet, and Denton 
returns, takes the trumpet, and says: "The Doctor and I have 
consulted as to what we shall give you, and conclude to write 
you an article touching the tangibility of thought and whether 
spirit thought is more tangible than that of persons yet in the 
physical." 

1115. And as this spirit returned into the cabinet by way 
of the south end of the cabinet another spirit, in visible make-up, 
stepped out of the cabinet at the north end, and up to the tablet 
table. We perceived this personage to be Wesley. 

1116. As he picked a tablet up he said: "The Professor 
asks me to write concerning the tangibility of thoughts." The 
spirit wrote very rapidly (not less than 10 words per second), 
tearing each leaf, as written, from the tablet, to five leaves, writ- 
ten on one side, and passed the writing to the secretarv, it being 
Wesley's effort No. 15. (2849-2858.) 

1117. Spirit Denton again took the trumpet and spoke in a 
business manner about getting the book published. 

Then he reverted to the article of Wesley, and to the advance 
of science along some lines, and of the opposition, especially of 
physicians and theologians, to every advance, and how that sci- 
ence goes on conquering and to conquer — is moving on in the 
field of photography, and that in a little while photography will 
grapple great scales from the blinded eyes of educated ignorance 



196 RENDING THE VAIL. 

and prejudice, presenting to the astonished medical world photo- 
graphs of the spirit man — that which scalpel and microscope 
failed to discern — passing out of the body. At such an event 
what a shaking among these dry old carcasses of medicine and 
theology. 

As Denton retired the song "Angel Footsteps" was being 
softly sung by the circle. 

1118. A stranger stood at the trumpet, picked it up, and 
said: "You do not hear footsteps in spirit life, but this is 'foot- 
falls on the boundaries of another world'; and that is glad music 
to mortals, and I thought that music so inviting I came in, by 
permission of those good spirits in charge here.'' And as the 
spirit retired the secretary perceived and exclaimed: "That is 
Eobert Dale Owen." 

1119. Then Bessie, the little girl cabinet control, appeared 
at the south end of the cabinet curtains, and, being discerned by 
the circle, the exclamation was: "Why, Bessie! What are you 
out for, fixed up so fine?" 

Bessie: "To have my picture taken." 

Then the artist appeared at the tablet desk, picked up one 
of the tablets, looked at Bessie, and began sketching to the finish, 
and passed through the cabinet and out at the south end of the 
front curtains where Bessie stood, and handed the sketch to the 
secretary. Sure enough, there was the picture of Bessie as she 
looked while standing there and as she looked generally when 
in form before us. This is sketch No. 58, at par. 1164. 

1120. Then the form of Robert Dale Owen reappeared in the 
cabinet door and said : "You must now have my picture." (1151.) 

The artist, being yet in the arena at the desk, with a tablet 
leaf in his hand, looked at the specter Owen as he stood before 
us, then sketched a little, again looked, and then again sketched ; 
both forms being clearly seen at the same time by the circle. In 
some less than 1 minute from the commencement of the sketch- 
ing Owen disappeared and the artist gave his sketching to the 
secretary and vanished, and this picture is a facsimile of the ap- 
pearance of the alleged materialization of Robert Dale Owen. 

1121. There is, perhaps, not such another picture as this in 
the world. 

1122. Neither is there an exact counterpart of any of the 
other pictures sketched here anywhere to be found, so far as 
we know; yet in most cases enough of individuality is given 
whereby to recognize the identity. 

1123. The last subterfuge of the "antis" to materialization 
— the last fusillading mud throwm on their retreat is: "Well, 
yes, there is something material, some picture there, some photo- 
graph, some forms there, but all of 'automatons'!" Whence the 
"automaton"? Who makes the "automaton"? "There is the 
rub." Who pulls the strings? The fact is that the "automaton" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 197 

howl is a complete begging of the question to cover retreat, a case 
where the medicine is as bad as the disease. 

But we have two more incidents to present before submitting 
our case, given at 

Seance No. 126. 

January 15, 1898. 

1124. Spirit Denton announced: ,k It is determined to give 
the whole strength of the seance this evening to the assistance 
of the artist, who is going to try to sketch a picture near life size. ,? 

1125. The reader will bear in mind that, about four weeks 
prior to this, the secretary sent to a friend in Kansas City, Mo., 
to procure and send to the secretary two sheets of the largest size 
sketch paper. Thus such paper was secured; and, by order of 
controls, the secretary placed that paper in the cabinet for the 
purpose, the spirits said, of having the paper well saturated with 
magnetism. After some three weeks thus leaving the paper and 
the spirits saying nothing about it, the secretary took the paper 
from the cabinet and found the paper yet entirely blank; but, 
the paper being large enough to make four pieces to the sheet 
of sufficient size for common life-size bust portraits, we cut the 
paper into quarters for that purpose, rolled it up again, all to- 
gether, and placed it in the cabinet, and so the paper remained 
until this evening. 

. 1126. The artist arose in the arena with that roll of sketch 
paper, unrolled it, took out a quarter-sheet, threw the remainder 
over the arena wire on to the floor of the room and near to the 
feet of the center of the circle, and handed the quarter-sheet re- 
tained to the secretary to present to all the circle to see that 
the quarter-sheet had nothing on it, but was clear, clean, white 
paper, and the circle so found and declared then and there, and 
thus the paper was returned, unrolled, to the spirit. The spirit 
had a lady hold one corner of the paper with her left hand and 
the secretary to hold another corner of it with his right, the spirit 
holding the lower left-hand corner with his left hand, and also 
having the paper so held as for the light to most abundantly 
fall on the paper where the sketching was to be done. The sec 
retary could see no trace % of penciling upon that paper, except a 
line of contour that we saw the spirit put there before we took 
hold of the paper. The circle could all see the blank paper. 

1127. Now the artist took a pencil, looked toward the cab- 
inet door where a form was standing, and then with that pen- 
cil in his right hand began moving that hand over that paper 
so rapidly that the hand seemed only in a rapid quiver, but we 
could distinctly see the outline being filled in and the halo com- 
ing on, and in as near 1 minute as we could determine the artist 
let go of the paper and it was at once inspected by the circle. This 
No. GO is a copy of that sketching, and Mr. Pratt recognized it 
as a likeness of Kate M. Huxley, an acquaintance of his in the 
long ago, gone to the spirit life. (Set in at par. 2021.) 



198 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1128. The artist next asked that one of the quarter-sheets 
aforesaid, that still lay upon the floor, be given to him. This 
being done by one of the circle, the artist held that paper so 
that the circle could see him draw an outline. He then took the 
paper to the southeast corner or angle of the cabinet, had Mrs. 
Sallie Aber hold with her left hand the upper left-hand corner, 
and the secretary as in the other case to hold with his right 
hand the upper right-hand corner, and the spirit the lower left- 
hand corner with his left hand, so that Mrs. Aber, the secretary, 
and the spirit were facing each other and the paper, and so hold- 
ing the paper that the others of the circle could also see the face 
of the paper and the artist. The spirit dropped his pencil, and 
Mr. Pratt gave him one. 

1129. Now, in the cabinet door, at the left of the spirit, and 
at the back of Mrs. Aber, and in front of the secretary, and in 
sight of the whole circle, stood that apparition known to us as 
Thomas Paine. The artist took a look at him, began sketching, 
and the whole circle saw the filling in as it came upon the paper 
in response to movements of the spirit's right hand; then the 
halo seemed to fall from the spirit's fingers onto the paper, and in 
less than 1 minute from the time the specter Paine appeared the 
artist said to the secretary, "Take the paper; that is all," and 
both spirits vanished. This picture (No. 61) of Thomas Paine, near 
bust life size, is left to us as a memento of an occurrence in psy- 
chics as wonderful as any of record in the archives of the world — 
so far, at least, as we now know. 

Psychic Photography. (359.) 

1130. Jn this department, during the past ten years, many 
hundreds of experiments have been made in the presence of the 

influence of this medium, and every possible 
mode of scrutiny has been observed, and al- 
ways the experiments have pointed to some 
psychic help to the medium, at least beyond 

1 any known or observable normal force. 

(a) One result of an experiment, the first 
without a sitter. 

Concerning this experiment we insert the 
statements contained in the Spring Hill New 

| Era: 

"Spirits Photographed. 

"Below we present the statements of 

Messrs. Buddington and Nixon in regard to 

H a photograph which many of our citizens 

■ ■ ■.•■■ : ! have seen, purporting to be the likeness of a 

wingless victory." spirit form. It is not conclusive evidence 
di30a.) that spirits come to this world and per- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 199 

init themselves to be photographed — except to those who saw 
every detail of the performance and know positively that no jug- 
glery or deception was used in making the photograph. As only 
Messrs. Buddington and Nixon witnessed it — to them only is 
it of scientific value. However, it makes interesting reading, 
and we give our readers the benefit of their investigation and 
statements. 



"Mr. Nixon's Statement. 

(b) "On the 7th day of April. 1891, about the hour of 3 o'clock 
p. in., I went to the photograph gallery of Mr. T. 0. Buddington 
in Spring Hill, Kas., and obtained from him a Cramer sensitized 
photographic plate, which I saw him take promiscuously from 
a box of plates in his dark room, with only the ruby light of 
course. Mr. Buddington placed a private mark on said plate, 
put the plate under cover, and gave it to me. I took the said plate 
immediately to the photograph gallery of Mr. W. W. Aber, some 
three squares distant, and had him go with me into the seance- 
room and focus his camera properly on me as a target; leaving the 
camera thus stationed, I had Mr. Aber go with me into his ruby 
light room. He there took his plate-holder, showed me that it 
was empty, and plainly in the ruby light I placed that plate in 
the plate-holder, shut up the holder with the slide, took the holder 
to the camera in the seance-room, and put it in proper position in 
the camera. 

"Mr. Aber wound the music-box and set it going wiiile I 
closed the shutters of the doors and windows, making the room 
in total darkness; then uncapping the lens, I made the whole ex- 
posure in total darkness, some less than 1 minute. Then, at a 
signal, wmich we understood to be from some spirit, I capped 
the lens, shut dowm the slide, then opened the doors and window 
shutters, took the holder back into the developing-room, took 
the plate from the holder, put the plate under cover, and took 
it back to Mr. Buddington, the same plate all the wmile before 
mentioned that I had obtained from Mr. Buddington as before 
stated; he and I went into his developing-room, and he in his ruby 
light developed the plate, and as the process went on we beheld a 
figure come out on the plate resembling a beautiful statue of some 
female form. 

"J. H. Nixon. 



"Prof. Buddington 's Statement. 

(c) "The plate upon which this picture appeared is one of 
Cramer's No. 40. such as is used in portait or landscape photog- 
raphy. I furnished it to Mr. J. H. Nixon at his request, having 
previously marked it with a private mark for identification. It 



200 RENDING THE VAIL. 

had never been manipulated by anyone since it was purchased 
of Mullett Bros, in Kansas City. 

"Upon its return by Mr. Nixon, I immediately developed it 
in his presence, and the resulting figure came out in dense shad- 
ows as though the plate had been exposed to a marble image in 
a brilliant white light. In fact, the plate showed a peculiar 
appearance that differed extremely from photographs that are 
exposed in ordinary light, confirming Mr. Nixon's statement that 
it was exposed in darkness. 

"As near as can be ascertained, it is a good copy of one of the 
statues formerly on the Acropolis at Athens, Greece, called 'The 
Wingless Victory.' It seems to signify that through photography 
the ancient sculptures can be reproduced again, and as a work of 
art it is unique. Whatever may be its source, it is unquestion- 
able that no process outside of ordinary photography was used in 
its production, save" the exposure of the plate in darkness. The 
world of science will hail it as a triumph in photographic possi- 
bilities, and that the subtle forces of light and darkness are as 
amenable to the proper utilization by man in this field as in 
grosser forms of matter. In other words, nothing ever dies in 
spirit, whether it vanishes from our sight in form or not. Even 
the art of Phidias is not lost, although ruin swept the work of 
his hand and brain from our vision centuries ago. 

"Personally I might say that as an expert photographer I 
know the different methods whereby counterfeits are produced, 
but in this case the conditions were such as to preclude them 
upon my part, and the world is welcome to the knowledge or the 
fact that science is master in the world of spirit as in the world 
of mortals. Photograph}' does not belie itself. I should also say 
that many photographers know about these phenomena, and that 
Mr. Aber is not the only one whose evidence bears upon the 
subject, as experiments by Professors Crookes and Wallace in 
England and Flammarion in France substantially verified the 
same phenomena as true and amenable to scientific manipulation. 

"T. C. Buddington, 
"Photographic Expert." 
Since this experiment, many hundreds, in the presence of this 
and other mediums, have been made here at Spring Hill. 

(d) Mr. C. V. N. House purchased a camera and many boxes 
of plates, and in every way he knew of fully tested the whole 
matter, and now has m his possession more than one hundred 
developed negatives of sittings for psychic photographs, every one 
of which was a phenomenal success, at least equivalent to the 
two examples given above. 

(e) Mr. J. H. Pratt fitted up his own gallery and apparatus 
and studied the art; and. himself, of plates purchased by him- 
self, made and had made hundreds of psychic photographic ex- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 201 

perinients, himself doing all the work and manipulating of plates 
from the original package to the development of the negative and 
photographic copy, with seldom a failure of results, and with 
sometimes wonderfully astounding results. 

(/) From all these experiments we find that the spirit photo- 
graph artists here, and of course elsewhere, are able to place 
whatever image they choose upon a negative photographic plate, 
in the presence of a suitable medium for the work. 

{g) That it does not require any condition except that the 
medium be near the photographic sensitive plate, touching the 
plate-holder or whatever contains the experimental plate; and 
that sometimes it only requires the medium in the room where 
the plate is. 

The Flashlight Experiment. 

1131. However, as the design of this book is to present mat- 
ter of phenomena of visible materializations, and as psychic 
photography seems to be fully verified elsewhere, we insert but 
one other case here, to- wit : A mere statement that on one occa- 
sion the chemical control, Dr. Reed, directed that if we would 
procure and arrange the proper facilities, he would attempt to 
liold his materialized form for a photograph; so we did; we focused 
the camera on the point at the cabinet door where a form could 
be readily presented to the view of the circle, placed a plate in 
the ordinary way in the camera, placed the flashlight apparatus 
near to the camera, and the medium took his seat in the cabinet. 
The spirit Reed immediately was presented to view, in the cabinet 
door, and gave directions about handling the flashlight and turn- 
ing the other lights low. "All ready," the spirit said. Mr. Walser 
uncapped the plate to exposure, and Nixon mixed the chemicals 
of the flashlight. Sam exclaimed: "All right. The Doctor fell 
all to pieces. The medium is safe. Dot ish de greateshd phenom- 
ena vat ever vash." 

The medium, however, was somewhat stunned by the opera- 
tion, but in a few moments was able to tell Mr. Walser how to de- 
velop the plate, which Mr. Walser did, in presence of the medium 
and the secretary, resulting in a negative exactly like Reed as he 
stood in the cabinet door, and. as the reader can see, of the crayon 
sketch at paragraph 1230. 

We never made any other attempt to obtain by flashlight 
a photographic negative of a materialized form, because of the 
seeming great shock to the medium's nervous system in such an 
experiment. 



202 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



Psychic Crayon Portrait Sketching. 

Statement. 



p^s 



"*& 



1132. MOHAMMED. 



1133. The original of this por- 
trait, as that of every other con- 
tained in this book, unless oth- 
erwise stated, is a crayon sketch 
done by a full-form visible ma- 
terialization. In this case both 
the form claiming to be that of 
Mohammed and the one doing 
the sketching were visible to 
the circle during the sketching, 
which was about 50 seconds. 
This form claiming to be Mo- 
hammed was presented in the 
attitude of visibility on several 
occasions, and always so nearly 
resembling this portrait as to be 
readily recognized as the form 
calling itself Mohammed. 



Historical. 

1134. This Mohammed or Mahomet, it is claimed, is that 
same personality that existed in Arabia about Medina and Mecca 
from 570 A. T). to 632 A. D., and set up monotheism against Arab- 
ian polytheism, and who, it is claimed, as a prophet, at the hands 
of the angel Gabriel, received the Great Book of Koran — the Holy 
Bible of more than one hundred millions of people. This Moham- 
medan Bible, it is claimed, has been more extensively read, and 
had a greater influence on the history and conduct of the world, 
than any other Bible ever claimed to be the holy word of God, 
the Christian Bible not excepted. (Encvclopedia Britannica, Vol. 
1G, pages 568 to 628.) 

Such is the personality alleged to be represented in this 
portrait. 

Statement. 

1136. This portrait is representative of the appearance of 
apparitions when standing in the cabinet door, as seen by the 
circle. While this is something near the average of clearness, 
some were much more brilliant, while others not nearly so clear 
as this. 

Someone may ask: "How are we to know this is intended 
for Mary E. Booth?" First, it resembles some portraits of her 
physical form. Second, the cases the artist has given us of those 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 



203 




1135. 



MARY ELIZABETH BOOTH. 



204 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



we know, and are able to verify, we have found correct; hence 
we have a right to think they are correct in cases we do not know. 

1137. This scene and the one at paragraph 1139 are pecu- 
liarly emblematic of the transition where the vail of flesh is being 
taken away from the spirit vision, and the dying person beholds 
mother, father, sister, brother, who had gone before. Not a Jesus 
as a God, but some loving old acquaintance holds the vail aside 
while the poor, old, earth-worn veteran steps into the joyous ac- 
claim of the heavenly hosts; not winged angels, as a separate 
order of creation, but hosts of men, women, and children, who 
lived on earth and who had been called dead by the people of 
earth. 

Simile. 

1138. As Mary Elizabeth Booth playing in the glare of foot- 
lights personfied human passions and character, so Mary Eliz- 
abeth Booth standing in the light of immortality personifies 
Spiritualism rending the vail, while a few rays of the light of end- 
less life shining through may light up the hopes of doubting and 
desponding mortals. 

Statement. 

1140. Here, again, the reader is presented a view of an ap- 
parition as it stood in the cabinet door and as it appeared to 
the sight of the circle at the time; and while the apparition 

so stood before and in view of 
the circle, another apparition 
stood to the left of this one, 
and the one at the left looked 
at the one in the cabinet door, 
picked up a pencil tablet, held 
in his left hand the tablet, and 
with a lead pencil in his right 
hand made a sketch on a paper 
of the tablet, which sketch is 
the original from which this 
portrait was copied; and, when 
the artist had finished the 
sketch, he tore it from the tab- 
let and gave it to Mr. Greenup, 
who had already recognized 
the form in the cabinet door as 
that of his wife, who had been 
deceased a number of years; 
and when Mr. Greenup took 
hold of the sketch, both appa- 
ll*. m E8 . J. f.greenup. ritions vanished. 




RENDING THE VAIL. 205 



* -»^^\ •* 


""■vV 




^^^% 












i ■ 




- ,-f t f^'^- 


if* 

/ 


x •,-,,.* *' "" ' 


f 






\ - 



1141. OMAR THE FIRST. (945,946.), 

Statement. 

1142. This spirit was not, at this time, made visible to the- 
circle, but had presented himself before this, in the condition of 
Tisibility, and the portrait was recognized by several of the circle 
as in resemblance to the form that had before stood forth to- 
sight and announced himself to be this Omar the First. The- 
artist was visible during the sketching. 

- —14 — 



20t5 RENDING THE VAIL. 



Biography. 



1143. Abubeker succeeded Mohammed, but died in so short 
a time that Omar became the first real Mohammedan caliph ; and, 
under his reign of ten years were the great territorial conquests 
and extensions of Islam. "He sought to make the whole nation 
a great host to God, one great army of soldiers. 1 ' The lands of 
the conquered countries were either made state property or re- 
stored to their old owners subject to perpetual tribute, which pro- 
vided resources on a splendid scale for the army. He was a won- 
derfully successful organizer of men and treasury-filling schemes, 
but promotion of law and order in internal affairs were his first 
concern. The fault in his system, of not sufficiently remunerating 
common labor, cost him his assassination by one of his own 
laborers in the year 644 A. I). (Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 16, 
page 586.) 

Omar sent General Aniru, with an army of 4000 Arabs, down 
into Egypt, and there General Amru pursued and finally shut the 
Greeks up in Alexandria, and, after fourteen months of desper- 
ate, bloody siege, took the city, in 640 A. I). In recent centuries 
there has been a somewhat successful attempt to have the world 
believe that the great Alexandrian Library was burned by com- 
mand of this Omar the First, but the compiler of the Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica finds (Vol. 1, page 683) this charge to be a myth 
invented by Abdul Faragius, a Christian writer who lived six cen- 
turies after Omar; that this great library of the Ptolemies was 
pillaged under the rule of one Theophilus, a Christian bishop, in 
389 A. D., which was two hundred and fifty years before this in- 
vasion of Egypt by one of Omar's armies ; and that this disgrace- 
ful pillage of that library was first attributed to Omar six hun- 
dred years after Omar's death. 

1144. A portrait was given us which was said to be the 
likeness of the Chinese sage Confucius. 

Statement. 

1145. This portrait closely resembles one that sometimes 
presented in our cabinet door which claimed to be Confucius; 
and finally, so standing, the artist, while also standing in view 
of the circle, made and gave to us the original of the portrait 
on page 207, and the time occupied in sketching the original 
was 45 seconds. 

Historical. 

1146. It is claimed that this Confucius is he who is said 
to have been born in the year 500 B. C, and finally recognized 
as one of the most profound philosophers and statesmen ever pro- 
duced among the Chinese people, and whom that numerous peo- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



20? 



pie (constituting nearly one-third of the whole human race on 
earth) yet so esteem and revere. 

This is that personage that history recognizes as having tirst 
given to the world in distinct utterance that rule of socialism 




CONFUCIUS. 



(898, 899.) 



now known as the Golden Rule: "What you do not like when 
done to yourself do not to others.'' It is said Confucius only gave 
the rule in negative form and that it remained for God himself, 
by the second person of the "Triune Godhead," to formulate the 



208 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



Golden Kule into an affirmative expression of words; but Con- 
fucius, it seems, understood it in the sense of "reciprocity," and 
in its positive and most comprehensive force; for, at least once, 
he deplored that he had not made the example of "doing to others 
as he would have them do to him." (Encyclopedia Britannica, 
Vol. 1, page 234.) 

Statement. 

1148. This spirit comes not 
here as a great personage, but as 
one who, while on earth, was a 
day-laborer. The artist paints 
him as an intelligent, bright, 
happy, joyous spirit. The value 
of this picture is, perhaps: first, 
that all in spirit life depends on 
what the person is, not what the 
name is, not what the world says; 
second, to show that, as the artist 
can draw correct likenesses of 
those whom we know, his repre- 
sentations of those we do not 
know are also correct; and third, 
to strengthen the assumption 
that this alleged psychic work is 
genuine. 



1147. 



CHARLES R. BELL 



Statement. 

1150. This spirit lived to a 
good old age in the physical 
body, and attended some of the 
earlier seances here before her 
transition. Her residence being 
only one block distant from the 
seance-room, she was familiar to 
all the circle, and she was fav- 
orably known to many people. 

Then, after transition, she vis- 
its the seances, and in material- 
ized form she is presented to the 
circle in the appearance of this 
portrait, which the artist made 
of her while both she and the 
artist stood together before the 
circle in the condition of visibil- 
ity, and he so made the portrait 
in less than 1 minute of time; 
and all who knew her while she was on earth, on sight of the por- 
trait, exclaim: "Grandma Lindsay!" 




1149. GRANDMA LINDSAY. 



RENDING THE VAIL 



209 




1151. ROBERT DALE OWEN. (1120. 



Statement. 

1152. If the reader will refer 
to paragraphs 1117, 1118, he will 
see that spirit Dentoii had been 
talking, and that as this spirit 
concluded his vocalization the 
pianist was rendering the piece 
of music entitled "Angel Foot- 
steps," the wiiole circle joining 
in the song; and that, while the 
music was being rendered, a 
form, as that of a man, suddenly 
stood by the trumpet at the 
southeast angle of the cabinet, 
and just outside of the cabinet, 
and picked up the trumpet and 
said through it: "You do not 
hear footsteps in spirit life, but 
this is 'Footfalls on the Bounda- 
ries of Another World,' and that 
is glad music to mortals who wish 
to hear; and I thought your music so inviting that I just came 
in, by permission of those good spirits in charge here." As the 
spirit retired into the cabinet the secretary perceived and ex- 
claimed: "That is Robert Dale Owen!" 

Then immediately appeared the artist at the desk, and Bes- 
sie, the cabinet control, at the place where Owen stood while 
talking, and the artist made a portrait of Bessie. Then, as Bessie 
passed or seemed to pass through the cabinet curtain at the south 
side of the cabinet door, into the cabinet, Robert Dale Owen re- 
appeared, but this time standing in the cabinet door, himself 
holding the cabinet curtains parted so that the circle could and 
did see his form standing there. And w 7 hile he so stood, the 
artist, at his place, also in sight of the circle, made a crayon por- 
trait and walked some 10 feet to the secretary and handed that 
sketching to the secretary; then both spirits vanished, and the 
circle saw r the sketching to be the likeness of the spirit form that 
stood in the cabinet door, and the portrait at paragraph 1151 
is a copy of this sketching herein mentioned, and is certainly in 
resemblance to Robert Dale Owen as he once was known to be. 

From this case and many others this circle conclude this psy 
chic artist is no fraud. 

Biography. 

1153. Perhaps this record need not state further than that 
this R. D. Owen is the son of Robert Owen, the socialistic re- 
former of England, who, coming to America, founded his system, 



210 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



as far as possible to do so, at New Harmony, Indiana. Robert 
Dale Owen became a politician; was a member of the constitu- 
tional convention of Indiana in 1852; was in great favor with the 
Lincoln administration; Avas a Spiritualist and author of much 
psychic literature, among which was a volume called ''Footfalls 
on the Boundarv of Another AYorld." 




1154. 



NELSON PRATT. 



1156. 



BLUE WATER. 



(1157.) 



Statement. 

1155. At the regular seance of December 22, 1897, this por- 
trait was sketched for the circle, in the usual way, and Mr. Pratt 
at once recognized it as in likeness of a cousin that passed to 
spirit life some forty-five years ago, in Kentucky, on the Little 
Sandy. 

The reader may say: "What is Nelson Pratt to me?" And 
we would answer: As Nelson Pratt, merely, he is nothing to the 
reader; but everything as a witness, saying: "I am he that liveth 
and was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more, and every per- 
son has the keys of his own death and hell !" If Jesus Christ,' after 
his transition, could appear to his circle of disciples, in one form, 
at one time, and eight days afterward in another form, and two 
years later still to Paul in yet another form, does it not prove, 
if it proves anything, that there is natural law by which any per- 
son after transition may return in some form to the perception of 
men and women yet in the physical life? 

Statement. 
1157. This Blue Water, it is claimed, was somewhat noted 
among the Sioux Indians. It is claimed that there is some pecu- 



KE\DIXG THE VAIL. 



211 



liarity of the magnetism of some Indian spirits that spirit chem- 
ical controls can use to advantage in every phase of the phenom- 
ena, whether mental or physical; hence with the spirit band of 
almost every American medium is found some one or more Indian 
spirits; and so here we find two or three with this medium, and 
among them This one that was called Blue Water. 











1158. 



SHEA MONA. 



1160. SAMUEL SCHMIDT, 
The Trance Control. 



Statement. 

1159. Here seems a portrait of a pure type of American 
Indian, as it was some five hundred years ago. See that open 
countenance; an expression of nobility, an innocent, simple, con 
tiding child of Nature, perhaps the gift of eloquence was his, and 
human sympathy written there. Any way, the artist has him 
pictured as he sometimes appeared to the circle, and as clairvoy- 
ants discern him. 

Very frequently clairvoyants visited these seances; in fact, 
four or five members of the circle were clairvoyant Often these 
clairvoyants would discern and describe a spirit in the cabinet 
before it made up and presented to the circle in materialized 
form. Thus materialization and clairvoyance were continual ver- 
ifications of each other. 

Statement. 

1161. This is the spirit that induces and holds the trance 
condition of this medium during the seances, and is also the 
principal cabinet colloquial test control. Although this spirit 



212 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



very often appears before the circle at seance-tiine in full-form 
materialization and converses at such times by means of material- 
ized vocal organs, yet for the most part he is inside the cabinet, 
and says that, when talking in the cabinet, he materializes a 
larynx around the medium's vocal cords to suit his own utter- 
ance and otherwise uses the medium's vocal organs for his cabinet 
speech. But, however that may be, his talk is, at all times, broken 
German-English. He says names are nothing to him, and he 
would as soon we designate him Sam only; and therefore we 
almost always use the nickname Sam. 

While the artist was making this portrait, Sam stood in front 
of the curtains at the cabinet door, and when the artist presented 
his work to the circle, the entire circle exclaimed: "Well, that 
is Sam to perfection!" Then again, the artist did the whole of 
the work in less than 1 minute of time. 

The reader will find by reference that the mentality of this 
spirit is commensurate with the physiognomical expression and 
cerebral development. (476-489.) 

1 Statement. 

1163. This little sprite was always about 
our seances, often in visible material form, 
having the similitude of a little girl of five or 
six years old; sometimes she talked as cabinet 
control. This portrait is as near as possible 
* , in likeness of the sprite as she stood for pro- 
file while the artist sketched her. 



1162. 

LITTLE NELLIE, 

A Cabinet Control. 



Statement. 

1165. This clever little girl of 
spirit life acted as colloquial, in- 
stead of Sam, for the most part 
at all the later series of seances, 
generally speaking from within 
the cabinet, using the medium's 
vocal organs, though at times ap- 
pearing to the circle in material- 
ized form and vocalization. 




1164. BESSIE MOORE, 

A Cabinet Colloquial Control. 



REXDING THE VAIL. 



213 



ALICE GREENUP. 



1166. This little tot, Alice Greenup, came 
toddling out of the cabinet door and stood 
to view of the circle while the artist, at his 
place in the arena, made the portrait. Mr. 
Greenup said, while the apparition stood 
there: "I know who that is. It is my little 
girl, Alice. She died at fifteen months old, 
but several years ago, and she would be a 
young woman now." 

To which remark Bessie, in the cabinet, 
said: "Yes, Mr. Greenup, but you know the 
Doctor [Eeed] has to have her presented in 
this wav or vou would not recognize her 
at all." 

Now some reader may say: "What care I 
for little children like these? What does 
this amount to? Can't any school -child 

make these crayons?" Well, sir: These seances began right here 
more than ten years ago. Many hundred seances have been held 
here since the beginning. All these phenomena have been trans- 
piring. Hundreds of people from various and far and near por- 
tions of the United States have witnessed them, and these various 
visitors all, or nearly all, have spared no appropriate oppor- 
tunity to tell people of their experiences at these seances, and 
yet there are but few in this immediate community who will 
venture to prove for themeslves whether these things be realities. 
"Pshaw!" say they; "that medium is a fraud, is a humbug. He 
plays on you as a set of dupes. Don't you know that 's the medi- 
um you all see? He 's the fellow that does all the talking. He 's 
got false faces and a different wardrobe, and confederates, and 
trap-doors, and he hypnotizes you. Oh, you '11 not catch me mak- 
ing a fool of myself just for a dupe to that charlatan, you bet your 
boots." And the preacher up yonder on the hill says: "If there 
is anything in it at all, it 's the devil. O Lord, have mercy on 
those deluded wretches up yonder at the yellow house."* 

All these phenomena, and in each particular, are to answer 
the different skepticisms of the reader's mind as he goes along. 
These little children get away with diabolism, and so many dif- 
ferent sizes and different heights of form gets the forms into 
something else than altogether the medium. And the intelli- 
gence must either take the whole matter out of the "statute of 
frauds" or show the medium and his confederates to be possessed 
of more than ordinary intelligence and research, or else that the 
reader's mind is too far back in the rudimental state to compre- 
hend the vast reach of scientific thought requisite for any mortal 
to express the amount and depth of the matter set out"in this 
volume. And if the reader can, or knows of a person who can, 



: Mr. Pratt's residence. 



214 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



write out such matter on paper, in common English words, with 
a common pencil only, at the rate of 1000 such written words per 
minute, then he may have some right to question our opinions of 
the psychic cause of the production of the alleged psychic matter 
herein contained. 

But, hold on! Here comes our cravon spirit artist with an- 
other picture, that he just now made in the short space of 1 
minute, and there stands a man in the cabinet door, and that man 
and this picture look much alike. And that man in the cabinet 
door says: "Behold me, now, Mr. Pratt." 

1167. Mr. Piatt replies: 
"Thomas Hart Benton. Yes, 
sir, I know you. I remember 
in 1853 I met you at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and we were eight days 
on steamer to St. Louis; dur- 
ing this voyage I got acquaint- 
ed with you to such an extent 
that T now fully recognize you 
as that Thomas H. Benton, of 
United States Senate faiHe." 

A case of hypnotic delusion? 
Oh, no. This portrait that you 
now look at knocks out the 
whole Psychic Research Socie- 
ty combination on that ground. 
Don't you know that you doc- 
tors had both Mr. Mesmer and 
varioloid vaccination shut up 
in a madhouse? You gentle- 
men might safely turn hypnot- 
ism loose on a Holy Ghost re- 
vivalist, but if you turn that 
racket on to Spiritualism, you surely "catch a Tartar." 

1108. Answer to the question at paragraph 944: In spirit 
life the spirit realizes a duplicate of the scenery of earth. Spirits 
say they are able to so manipulate spirit ether as to construct 
any desired article or thing as realistic to spirit senses as the 
same ideal constructed of physical material is to the spirit while 
living in the earthly body. Then, again, that all natural material 
forms have their natural spirit counterpart existing in spirit 
realms, discernible to spirit perception. 




THOMAS HART BE 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



215 




216 



RENDING THE VAIL. 




1169. 



A SPIRIT HOME. 



(1001.) 



This picture is intended as an illustration of appearances 
presented to view of a person soon after transition, and is, per- 
haps, one scene presented to Judge Thacher as he began to awake 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 



217 



to realities of homes builded of spirit ether; because this picture 
was sketched by our artist immediately after the original of the 
portrait of Judge Thacher. (See pars. 999, 1000, and 2941.) 



/ 'v/ / \ ) 




/ - < 



-iu&:£m 



1 *)\\ 




1170. SEANCE-ROOM. 

1. Chairs and sitters of the circle. 

2. Settee; sometimes one, two, or three sitters. 

3. Position of the secretary. 

4. The secretary's table. 

5. Lantern on the secretary's table. 

6. Music-box. 

7. Seance-table. 

8. Writing-desk in the arena. 

9. Door in the cabinet front. 
10. Medium in the cabinet. 




(651, 651V4.) 



218 RENDING THE VAIL. 

11. Piano. 

12. Doors. 

13. Windows. 

C. Magnetic currents from sitters' heads, down through 
their bodies, out at their feet, into the cabinet at the medium. 
These magnetic currents are visible to the controls, but, of course, 
not so to the sitters. 

14. Arena wire, 30 inches above the floor; curtain from wire 
to floor. (65U.) 

15. Chair that spirits moved about in the room. 

S. Points on the carpet where the forms arose, stood, went 
down, vanished. 

Q. S. A vapory appearance rising up into form. 

For the appearance of the cabinet front, curtains parted by a 
spirit form, see paragraph 1135. While this portrait shows the 
manner of presentation of specters in the cabinet door, it is also 
an emblem of the work of phenomenal Spiritualism rending the 
vail and revealing to willing eves and ears the great consoling 
truth of demonstrable future life and spirit return. 

On 




(70 lh 



\ -' 






<£ TArftC? \CsLE 



1171. STAR CIRCLE. (186, 210.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



219 



Here is a diagram to be considered in connection with the 
one at paragraph 1172. A nebulous vortex, into which great 
rivers, currents, or streams of positive and negative electricity 
tlow as a nucleus for the formation of a solar system, and which 
also becomes, at a certain stage of formation, a congenial abode 
of spirits; and, of its constituent elements, may be manipulated, 
by spirits, into forms. 



- rkro 



Spirit Thomas Paine says this dia- 
gram is representative of the evolution- 
ary idea as comprehended by scientists 
in spirit life; that the design of this dia- 
gram is that the reader may study out 
for himself the signification of the vari- 
ous lines and points; that, in addition 
to different conditions of spirit life, 
there are corresponding local spirit 
spheres attending each planet, and 
that each planetary system is attended 
by one vast spirit sphere located out- 
side the orbit of the outermost planet 
of the system; that such vast sphere is 
perpetually moving in space; that at 
last all persons of all planets pass 
through subordinate spheres, to this, as 
an abode; that this diagram is to repre- 
sent spirit conditions rather than posi- 
tions of material planetary bodies. 




1172. EVOLUTION (1835, 1837.) 

From Interstellar Etherium to 

Angelhood in Spirit Spheres. 




1173. 



THE LIFE ATOM. 



As presented to spirit perception, but magnified many thou- 
sand diameters in relation to physical vision. 



220 



RENDING THE VAIL. 




1174. 



LIFE ATOMS. 



Imbedded in a block of solid rock, as perceptible to spirit 
vision, magnified very many diameters in relation to vision by 
the physical e.ye. 

*. 



Q' -M 4^S fi ®T2 



w 




*) 



? 



13 ■%, <-$-$> ■?? V 



1175. 



UNKNOWN TONGUE, 
But perhaps Chaldean Writing. 



We suppose the writing 1175 a, signed "Giordano Bruno,-' 
to be an interpretation of the alleged Chaldean characters, al- 
though the spirits did not say so, nor does any one of our circle, 
nor any person we have met, seem to know what, if anything, it 
all means. 



BINDING THE VAIL. 221 








1175 a. WRITING, 

Given in connection with the Portrait of Hiram Abiff. 

1176. The following engravings set in at paragraphs 1179, 
1180, 1181, 1183, and 1184 are facsimile samples of the handwrit- 
ing of the respective spectral forms alleged. 

1177. It is not claimed for these psychic writings that they 
are in the hand they used while in the physical; nevertheless 
they are as marked in individuality and each writer's hand is as 
uniform throughout as that of any person in the physical life. 

1178. Spirit Dr. Reed wrote the most voluminously and 
with such uniformity of style of writing as that any line of his 
writing w T ould be easily detected in a mass of the handwriting of 
a thousand other persons. 

Psychic Writings. 
Example No. 1. 




f^^fu^^^^r 




1179. SPIRIT WILLIAM DENTON. (1132.) 

The Denton manuscript is distinguishable by straight line- 
formation fc./sd angular connection of letter principle. 



222 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Example 2. 

i/htr\J(u{ a^JhiI ffl^A dy^UA/i <%*££$( /puJUt 



Gjl 







1180. MICHAEL FARADAY. 



Prominent characteristics of the Faraday manuscripts are 
initial and terminal curved nourishes, long, slender loops and 
stems, nearly perpendicular style, and nice round-hand of short 
letters. 

Example 3. 

sOmfaf Mil 'vnAwMw 

/fm^t(j^> *t 6 Mud* c^MjuMfi^ 9 



WU A^f 





Or 

1181. FATHER KING. (123/, 0.) 

Somewhat similar to Denton's, but some nearer round-hand; 
more emphatic in general style. 

1182. This spirit claims to be of great antiquity, and that 
his mission has been to keep open the means of spirit return. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 223 

Example 4. 

118:3. DR. REED, (1240-1243.) 

The Chemical Control. 

Universally a back-hand, long, slender loops and stems, 
round, close, and without flourishes, and without affectation. 

The average time of execution of writings by this spirit was 
about 10 words per second — that is, 600 words per minute. 

Example 5. 

Di/W if C <-*<£* 6 oc^rf Karen 

jri l vt rrnicdXiLTwTy'X* 

k IV CL a, f r n <f V T oV K v y[ L% 



(Up GzJtc* f &Jfo 



oS^*Zc7, 



1184. THOMAS PAINE. (73-74.) 

This is the first effort, here, of this spirit, at writing. The 

autograph, however, is similar to that of all the writings, here, 
attributed to Thomas Paine as a spirit. 



224 



RENDING THE VAIL. 




Example 6. 









1185. 



SPIRIT WESLEY ABER. 



(2786-2788.) 



This writing very much resembles the Denton manuscript, 
but is not so angular nor heavy, more round; and thus the reader 
will be able to discern each individuality of writing. 



I 

i 



^ 



11 £ 



1186. 



WING LEAF, 
A Chinaman. 



(582.) 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 225 










1186a. CHINESE, JAPANESE, OR bOME ORIENTAL WRITING. 

This is an entirely unknown tongue to any of the circle. The 
spirits did not interpret, nor haye we found any person to inter- 
pret for us, except the first, which we are told is in part telling 
when the person liyed by the "Big Wall." 

These two writings, and the one at par. 253, the one at par.,813, 
and the one at par. 1175, are inserted for the reader's contempla- 
tion, and with the hope that someone will be able to enlighten us 
in regard to the matter, for use in future editions hereof, should 
there be any such. 

A Few Definitions. 

1187. Spirit. — By this term, in this book, when referring to 
a personality, is meant the conscious identity of a human being 
who, in the ordinary manner, at souie period of duration, existed 
on earth as a member of the human race in what is generally 
known as the mortal body, or carnal body; and such entity, hay- 
ing passed out of its mortal body by the process commonly called 
death, yet, beyond this period and condition of so-called death, 
still preseryes its identity of being in self-conscious personality. 

1188. The words ''materialization,'' "form," "inake-up," "re- 
incarnation," "apparition," "specter" signify: the spirit, or some 
spirit so far reclothed with materiality as to exhibit some or 
all of the phenomena of the physical body during earth life, 
such as yisibility, muscularity, power of word-utterance, and 
so on. 

1189. Vocalization. — Oral speech of a materialization. 

1190. Dematerialize. — To pass from the yisible to the invis- 
ible condition by gradual dissolution of the temporary body. 
(119 d, Mo.) 



226 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1191. Vanish. — To pass suddenly from the visible to invis- 
ibility. 

1192. Circle. — All the persons in the mortal form assembled 
at the given time and place as spectators of the so called spiritual 
phenomena, whether such phenomena be mental or physical. 

1193. — Seance. — A meeting of persons for the purpose of 
witnessing, discerning, and waiting for exhibition of psychic- 
phenomena. 

1194. Mental phenomena. — Thought-transference from spirit 
excarnate to spirit incarnate and uttered by the medium. 

1195. Automatic phenomena. — Use of medium's physical or- 
ganism or part thereof by excarnates. 

1196. Physical phenomena. — Produced by partial or entire 
materialization. 

Authentication. 

1197. While the compiler is of the opinion that the matter 
of the book possesses internal evidence sufficient to establish its 
claims of authorship, and others of the regular attendants of the 
seances are of the same opinion, and several of the original circle 
are passed to spirit life, and some in distant lands; nevertheless, 
we insert some statements, in affidavit and deposition form, be- 
cause some of the circle and some of the spirits think it best. 
But, in this regard, the reader has already, by the seance records, 
learned of some one hundred persons, and their addresses, who 
attended more or less of the seances, and can refer to such; yet, 
it is believed that the intelligent reader, versed along scientific 
lines, will discern in the book, taken as a whole, such an intellect- 
uality as must fix the authorship to an intelligence more than 
ordinarilv possessed by man while in the physical life. 

1197|. The deposition of J. H. Pratt in* the matter of the 
phenomena of the Aber Intellectual Seances of Spring Hill, Kan 
sas, during the years 1838 to 1898, is as follows: 
"State of Kansas, Johnson County, ss. 

"Before me, J. A. Spencer, a notary public within and for 
said county and State, this the 21st day of March, 1899, volunta- 
rily comes J. H. Pratt, he being personally known to me to-be the 
person he hereinafter represents himself to be; and the said J. 
H. Pratt, being by and before me duly sworn, upon his oath de- 
poses and says as follows, to-wit: 

"That I, the said J. H. Pratt, having heard of one William 
W. Aber as being a medium for what are commonly called psy- 
chic phenomena, procured the engagement of the said William 
W. Aber to come to my house, in Spring Hill, Kansas, that I, for 
my own account and satisfaction, might have an opportunity of 
thoroughly investigating such alleged phenomena. 

"That, accordingly, on the 22d day of September, 1888, said 
William W. Aber arrived at my said house, the same being my 



RENDING THE VAIL. 227 

residence; and the sittings, called spiritual seances, began imme- 
diately, and were held, almost daily, at my said house, for near 
two years, with more or less phenomenal results at each seance; 
and, with but little exception, all at my own expense. 

"That to these seances the public were cordially invited, and 
hundreds of persons, from far and near, attended them — all of 
which seances were held in my parlor, but only twelve to twenty 
persons at each seance, for want of room to accommodate; and 
the phenomena were such as described at paragraphs 1 to 6 of 
the manuscript of a book entitled 'Rending the Vail.' 

1198. "That at length the so-called spirit authors of the 
said phenomena, urged that a special select circle be formed to 
hold private seances to give said alleged spirits opportunity to 
furnish matter to publish, in book form, to the world. 

"That, accordingly, such private seances began to be held 
at my said residence on the 28th day of May, 1890, sitting twice 
each week; and, to preserve the matter given, required an 
amanuensis; and the alleged spirits urged that 

1199. "J. H. Nixon, by their help, would prove sufficiently 
competent ; and the said Nixon, so undertaking, as suggested by 
the spirits, was known as the recording secretary of the psycMc 
band. 

"That the controls, or managers, on the spirit side, suggested 
the rule, that the secretary take notes of occurrences of each 
seance; and, during the interim, reduce to writing in full; and 
at the opening of each seance the secretary's record of the pre- 
ceding seance be read in hearing of the circle and subject to 
such corrections and amendments as the circle and spirits to- 
gether might conclude should be made; and such was the rule 
throughout the entire series of seances. 

"That it was soon found that the secretary was enabled to 
make the records of the phenomenal occurrences of the seances 
full, true, and complete, even to a verbatim, word-for-word report 
of the vocalizations, to such an extent as to very seldom need any 
amendment or modification. 

"That from November, 1890, the residence of Mrs. Phoebe 
Smith, some four blocks from my own residence, became the 
meeting-place of the circle, to April, 1892; but paralysis or mental 
prostration prevented my attendance or knowledge of the trans- 
actions of the seances after leaving my house; but I very gradu- 
ally recovered from my said disability, until my ability of thought 
and reason became about normal, when I learned that the said 
psychic work had not been completed as the spirits designed: 
therefore, it was arranged that the said medium return to my 
house and resume the seances for completing the work, and on 
October 10th. 1897, the seances were renewed at my house, and 
continued twice each week, to the number of thirty-two seances, 
the said J. H. Nixon continuing as secretary, recording and re- 



228 RENDING THE TAIL. 

porting, as before described, up to completion, so that, first and 
last, some fifty of said select seances were held at my house and 
in my presence, sight, and full cognizance. 

"That now the said J. H. Nixon presents me his full record 
of all the said select seances that were held at my residence and 
at the premises known as Mrs. Smith's; and the said secretary 
also presents me with a compiled transcript of all of said min- 
utes, so far as connected with the said William W. Aber's medi- 
uniship; and I find that, so far as I know and am able to form an 
opinion, the said compiled transcript of said minutes sets forth the 
truth and only the truth, of all essential matter, transactions, and 
alleged psychic phenomena that occurred at and that were pre- 
sented to said select seances in connection with said mediumship. 

1200. "Now, in order to more fully connect my depositions 
to their purpose, I further depose and say: 

''That certain forms, as apparitions, would rise up, out of a 
small cloudlet appearance on the carpet, and develop into human 
shape and common size of man, woman, or child, as the case 
might be, and ask for a tablet of blank paper; and some of the 
circle, sometimes myself, would hand the apparition a blank pen- 
cil tablet, or other blank paper. 

"That such apparition, while standing in the light and in 
sight of the circle, would write upon such blank paper or in the 
said blank tablet and hand the paper or tablet back to me or the 
owner of such paper, and then the apparition that did the writ- 
ing would apparently descend, as though going down through 
the floor of the room, until the chin would reach the floor, then 
utter the words "good-by/' and the head instantly vanish from 
our sight. 

''That examination of the paper would show a writing where 
none existed before the paper was given to the apparition as 
aforesaid; and at times such writing revealed great mentality 
of authorship; and on careful note of the time of the execution 
of such writing, by all the members of the circle, by watch, by 
pulse-beat, and by pendulum-vibration, we would find that such 
writing was done at the rate of 10 words per second, and more, 
sometimes making the astounding rate of writing of more than 
GOO words per minute! And this experiment of writing by visi- 
ble apparitions in such way and manner was repeated in these 
seances, under every conceivable variation of test conditions, to 
the number of at least 100 experiments, all conducted in light, not 
in darkness, until absolute verity, beyond cavil, to every mind of 
the circle, was reached. 

1201. "That another phenomenal feature of such seances 
was that an apparition would arise, as in the case for writing, and, 
when of full form, would say: 'I am William Denton [or other, 
as the case might be] ; if you will give me a subject, I will try 
to speak to it.' 



RENDING THE VAIL. 229 

''That whatever scientific, theologic, or other subject any 
member of the circle might announce for a theme would be taken 
bv the specter, and by it vocally handled as ably and eloquently 
as would the most learned men of earth after long special inves- 
tigation of the subject; and, when done, the apparition would 
vanish at times, and at other times would apparently go down 
through the floor out of sight. 

1202. "That at the last 30 of said seances there was psychic 
portrait-sketching after this manner, to-wit: A specter would 
arise in the arena as set out by the secretary in his aforesaid com- 
pilation; then another apparition Avould appear, at some other 
point, in the room, usually in the cabinet door; and, while both 
spirit forms were visible to the circle, the one in the arena would 
take a blank tablet and assume the attitude and appearance of 
sketching, tear the leaf upon which he seemed to be sketching 
from the said tablet, and hand the leaf to the circle; then both 
spirits would vanish, and the said leaf upon which we had seen the 
spirit seem to be sketching would have upon it the portrait like- 
ness of the spirit that we had seen standing in the cabinet door as 
though posing for his portrait to be made; and that in this way 
and manner all of the alleged psychic portraits set out in said 
compilation of said seance records were obtained; among which 
were the portraits of Thomas Paine, Dr. Reed, Judge William 
Wag-staff, Bruno, Confucius. Buddha, Hiram Abiff, and many 
others. 

k 'That such, as aforesaid, was the manner of the phenomena; 
and, although any specific phenomenon be repeated oftentimes, 
the attendant details were never twice exactlv alike; and, flnallv, 
I find 

"That the said secretary's compilations for publication accu- 
rately set forth the truth of the manner and matter of the said 
Aber Intellectual Seances, so far as my knowledge and memory 
will serve me. 

"J. H. Pratt. 

"Taken, subscribed, and sworn to before me this the 21st day 
of March, 1899, as witness mv hand and seal hereto. 
[Seal] "J. A. Spencer, 

"Notary Public. 

"My commission expires November 15, 1901." 

1203. Affidavit of Mrs. Josephine Pratt as pertaining to the 
seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle: 
"State of Kansas, Johnson County, ss. 

"Before me, J. A. Spencer, a notary public in and for said 
county and State, comes now Josephine Pratt, known to me to 
be the person she represents herself to be; and, being duly sworn, 
upon her oath, states : 



230 RENDING THE VAIL. 

"That she is the wife of J. H. Pratt, at whose residence cer- 
tain seances, called seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle, were 
held during 1890, 1897, and 1898, at and of which seances J. H. 
Nixon served in the capacity of secretary. 

"That the said seances were held in her presence, sight, and 
hearing. 

"That she has had read to her the deposition of her husband, 
J. H. Pratt, in reference to said seances and the phenomena 
thereof, and the said secretary's records and compilation there- 
from; and, from the best of her information, knowledge, and 
belief, said deposition of said J. H. Pratt sets forth the truth 
in substance and in fact as she verily believes. 

"Josephine Pratt. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 21st day of 
March, 1899, as witness my hand and seal hereto. 
[Seal] "J". A. Spencer, 

"Notary Public. 

"My commission expires November 15, 1901." 

1204. Affidavit of Miss May Cook and Mrs. L. C. Cook con- 
cerning the verity of the deposition and matter therein referred 
to of J. H. Pratt as pertaining to the seances of the Aber Intellect- 
ual Circle: 

"State of Kansas, Johnson County, ss. 

"Before me, J. A. Spencer, a notary public within and for 
said county and State, this the 21st day of March, 1899, person- 
ally came Miss May Cook and Mrs. L. C. Cook, both known to 
me to be the persons they represent themselves to be; and, both 
of them being duly sworn, depose and say: 

-That during the years 1890, 1891, 1892, 1897, and 1898 there 
existed a certain psychic research society under the name and 
style of the Aber Intellectual Circle, and its meetings were known 
as seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle. 

"That said seances were held, first, to the number of fifteen 
or sixteen, at the residence of J. H. Pratt, in Spring Hill, Kansas; 
and, second, to the number of eighty or more, at the residence 
of Mrs. Phoebe Smith, in said city of Spring Hill; and a third 
series of said seances at the residence of the said J. H. Pratt. 

"That affiants were members of said circle and attended 
near eighty-five of the first and second series of said seances and 
only a few of the said third series. 

"Affiants further say that they have been fully apprised of 
the contents of the affidavit aud deposition of said J. H. Pratt, 
as touching phenomena that occurred at said seances, and as 
touching the records of said phenomena and the compilation 
therefrom, as taken and made by J. H. Nixon. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 231 

"That affiants were eye-witnesses of the phenomena that oc- 
curred at the seances which they attended, and affiants person- 
ally heard the vocalizations of the apparitions and various read- 
ings of the secretary of his records of the occurring phenomena, 
and, from their own personal knowledge and belief, affiants fur- 
ther state that the said deposition of the said J. H. Pratt sets 
forth the truth and the truth only, in regard to the whole matter 
of the phenomena of said seances and of said secretary's records 
thereof. 

"May Cook. 

"L. C. Cook. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 21st day of 
March, 1899, as witness my hand and seal hereto. 
[Seal] "J. A. Spencer, 

"Notary Public. 

"My commission expires November 15, 1901." 

1205. Affidavit of Mrs. J. A. Edwards and Miss Sarah Lov- 
ell as pertaining to the seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle: 
"State of Kansas, Johnson County, ss. 

"Before me, J. A. Spencer, a notary public in and for said 
county and State, this the 21st day of March, 1899, personally 
came Mrs. J. A. Edwards and Sarah Lovell, both of lawful age, 
and, both being duly sworn, upon oath say: 

"That they attended twelve or fifteen of the seances at J. 
H. Pratt's residence during the summer of 1890, which seances 
were known as seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle, and that 
they also attended a few of the said seances at the residence of 
Mrs. Phoebe Smith in 1891. 

"That they, affiants, have had made known to them the con- 
tents of the affidavit of J. H. Pratt in the matter of the phenom- 
ena of said seances and of the records of the secretary of said 
seances; and that affiants were eye- and ear- witnesses to much 
of the phenomena described in said affidavit of J. H. Pratt and 
of the records of said secretary; and that, from their knowledge 
and belief, founded on affiants' actual experiences at said seances, 
so far as relating to occurrences of the said seances attended by 
affiants, the said records of the said secretary and the said affi- 
davit of the said J. H. Pratt are true. 

"J. .4. Edwards. 
"Sarah Lovell. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this the date first above 
written, as witness my hand and seal hereto. 
[Seal] "-7. A. Spencer, 

"Notary Public. 

"My commission expires November 15, 1901/' 



232 REX DING THE TAIL. 

1206. Affidavit of J. F. Greenup and Mrs. M. J. Greenup 
as pertaining to the seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle: 
"State of Kansas, Johnson County, ss. 

"Before me, J. A. Spencer, a notary public in and for said 
county and State, this the 22d day of March, 1899, personally 
came J. F. Greenup and M. J. Greenup, his wife, and both of said 
Greenups, being duly sworn, upon oath say: 

"That during the mouths of October, November, and Decem- 
ber, 1897, and during the month of January, 1898, a certain so- 
ciety of persons known as the Aber Intellectual Circle held meet- 
ings twice a week at the residence of J. H. Pratt, in Spring Hill, 
Kansas. 

"That said meetings of said circle were called seances, hav- 
ing for their object the obtaining of psychic matter to be pub- 
lished to the world in book form. 

"That such psychic matter consisted of alleged spirit writing, 
spirit speech, and vocalization by trumpet, and also by voice, as 
though human, all being done by certain visible forms, called spec- 
ters, apparitions, and materializations, and that such visible 
specters also did crayon portrait sketchings of alleged spirits. 

"That one J. H. Nixon acted as secretary or amanuensis, mak- 
ing record of the phenomena and reading the same, of each 
seance, to the circle at next succeeding seance. 

"Affiants further state that they have had read to them the 
deposition of J. H. Pratt, with regard to the various seances of 
the said Aber Intellectual Circle, and that, so far as said affidavit 
or deposition of said J. II. Pratt refers to phenomena and occur- 
rences of the said seances attended by affiants, as aforesaid, and 
of said secretary's records thereof, said deposition of the said 
J. H. Pratt sets forth the truth and the truth only. 

"J. F. Greenup. 
"M. J. Greenup. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this date first above 
written, as witnesseth my hand and seal hereto. 
[Seal] "J. A. Spencer, 

"Notary Public. 

"My commission expires November 15, 1901." 



Rending the Vail 



PART SECOND. 



PSYCHIC WRITINGS AND VOCALIZATIONS 

Referred to in Part First, all Done by 
FULL-FORM VISIBLE MATERIALIZATIONS. 



1207. Each spirit's writings and vocalizations set out in 
separate chapters, numbers and letters in right margins referring 
to seance records of the circumstances attending the production 
of the writings and speakings 



234 RENDING THE TAIL. 



CONTENTS IN GENERAL. 

Chapter I. 
Writings of Prof. Hare and John Pierpont 1207-1211 

Chapter II. 
Writings of E. V. Wilson 1212-1228 

Chapter III. 
Writings of Dr. Reed, the Chemical Control 1229-1630 

Chapter IV. 
Writings of Prof. William Denton 1634-1920 

Chapter V. 
Vocalizations by Prof. William Denton 1922-2307 

Chapter VI. 
Writings of Thomas Paine .2310-2336 

Chapter VII. 
Vocalizations of Thomas Paine 2340-2591 

Chapter VIII. 
Writings of Prof. M. Faraday 2594-2703 

Chapter IX. 
Writings and Trumpet Orations of Father King 2706-2766 

Chapiter X. 
Writings of Wesley Aber 2770-2858 

Chapter XI. 

Transitions: Writings of different Spirits, giving their 
Experiences at and immediately after the Parting 
of Soul and Body " 2861-2948 



RENDING THE VAIL. 235 



CHAPTER I. 



Writings of Prof. Hare and John Pierpont. 

1208. Their writings seem to have been joint, and tjjeir No. 
1, being introductory, is left with the seance record of seance 
No. 3, from paragraphs 53 to 70, and the remainder in this 
chapter. (1210 and 1211.) 

1209. These two spirits, it seems, belong to this band for 
the present. Prof. Hare as assistant chemical control. 

No. 2. (172.) 

Effect of Excessive Love of Gain. 

1210. "Money has taken the place of force in determining 
the position of the individual to the public; hence, money esti- 
mates are main issues involved in civil society, and a life becomes 
valuable only as it can be measured by its ability to command 
the money power. 

(a) "The effect of this principle upon your race of people 
is far better in some respects than war: for wealth cannot accu- 
mulate in the presence of wholesale destruction of life and prop- 
erty; but the subordination of all interests to the principle of 
acquisition of material wealth has worked destruction to the 
development of the higher faculties and retarded the progress 
of the mental nature, in some cases to an almost irredeemable 
degree. 

(Signed) u Prof. Rarer 

(See ''Mental Evolution," pages 11 and 12.) 

It seems that some of the spirits of this band were together 
making endeavors to reach mortals through the channel of 
thought-transference, through which the matter of the Faraday 
pamphlets was given, and now desire to show their ability to give 
the same matter through the direct channel of materialized form. 

The reader will find a sufficiency of such matter in this work 
to show the theory of thought-transference to be in accord with 
facts. This also is supportive of the claim that, the personality 
is the same in both cases. 

No. 3. (896.) 

Spiritualism Reaches Ereri/ Phase of Life. 

1211. "Friends, there is no phase of life that Spiritual ism 
does not reach. It elevates and ennobles all that it can reach. Its 
phenomena demonstrates that life is continuous, and that man's 
soul (life) is immortal. 

(a) "We want the world to know that death does not end all. 

(Signed) "John P." 



236 RENDING THE VAIL. 



CHAPTER II. 



Writings of E. V. Wilson. 

1212. This spirit, while in the physical, was an inspirational 
psyehometrist and speaker of wonderful power, and at one time 
had editorial charge of the Religio-Philosophical Journal. 

1213. His connection with this psychic band seems to be 
more for the purpose of furnishing psycho-material elements for 
use of the spirit chemist in molding the psycho-material forms. 

No. 1. (1227.) 

Prison Reform. 

1214. "The prisons you have at the present time have a tend- 
ency to make men more vicious. As a general thing, the guards 
are cruel to their charges; and, instead of bringing out all that 
is good in their prisoners, they cultivate all that is vile. 

1215. "Man is an animal that cannot be conquered by brute 
force. You may seemingly get control of his body, but you can 
never control his mind that way. At some time, sooner or later, 
the worm will turn. 

"On the other hand, use kindness and he will be your slave 
and the good and pure will become strong within him, and he 
will begin to see the error of his deeds and trulv repent of them. 

(Signed) "E. V. Wilson." 

No. 2. (172.) 

Time for Spiritualists to Assume Position as Science. 

1216. "Spiritualism being a verity, it is time that advanced 
Spiritualists should assume the position of positive knowledge 
as far as the fact itself, and not be constantly seeking tests and 
signs; but to accept them, when they do come, the same as you 
accept anything else when reason is exercised. 

1217. "This demonstrates to a certainty what no other form 
of religious belief does, which is a knowledge, not simply a belief 
and faith, in a future life for all mankind. 

1218. "We retain our individuality after the material 
change called death. 

"Mediums are like magnets. 

(Signed) "E. V. Wilson: 7 

No. 3. (949.) 

Who or What Hears and Answers Prayer? 

1219. "The so-called blessings that the orthodox speak of 
do not come through miracles. They all come through natural 
law — the law of compensation. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 237 

1220. "A prayer does not reach the ears of an infinite God, 
but much farther. 

1221. "Every word you speak, every thought you think, 
creates innumerable vibrations. These thought-waves vibrating 
and revibrating sooner or later come in contact with sensitive 
minds to bring about the so-called blessing. And in the same 
way is brought about much of so-called evil. 

1222. "Your thoughts have the same influence on your spirit 
as your actions have upon your body. 

1223. "You have been told many times that thoughts are 
tangible things. Then, friends, if you understand this quotation, 
endeavor to think only pure thoughts. 

1224. "Did you ever feel disconsolate? — tired out and weary 
of the burdens of life? I know everyone here to-night has felt 
that way at some time; and perhaps at your darkest times, as it 
seemed to you, would come some happy thoughts that would 
lighten your heart and make you feel as if you had been walking 
for hours under a clouded sky, but the sun had at last shone 
forth and all was well. 

1225. "Where did that thought come from? Not from your 
own mind, for that was dark and gloomy. It came from some 
other mind in or out of the mortal body. More frequently im- 
pressions come from those w T ho have laid aside the garb of mor- 
tals and are basking in the happiness of the world beyond the 
change of death. 

(Signed) "E. V. Wilson: 1 

No. 4. (950.)- 

Capital Punishment. 

1226. "Spirits who have been in the spirit world for some 
time do not believe in capital punishment. Y"ou may ask why 
they do not, so I endeavor to tell you. 

1227. (a) "The taking of one life will not bring back the 
other that has gone out. 

(/;) "Y^ou send the criminal out of his body with his mind 
full of vengeance and at the first opportunity he will return and 
influence the first sensitive he can reach to commit the same 
crime he himself has suffered for. 

1228. "We know it would be better to confine him to some 
place where his soul could grow larger and he could atone, in 
some measure, for the sorrow and pain he has brought into the 
world. (1211.) 

(Signed) "E. V. Wilson /' 



238 RENDING THE VAIL. 

CHAPTER III. 

Writings of the Spirit Dr. Reed. 



1230. DR. REED, 

Chemical Control. 



1231. Even some Spiritualists seem not to be aware of the 
laws, and skill in their application, necessary to produce phenom- 
ena; hence this statement by the secretary. 

This Dr. Reed, when in the mortal form, practiced med- 
icine at St. Louis, Missouri, and passed to spirit life some twenty 



RENDING THE VAIL. 239 

years ago. Having large benevolence and a general sympathetic 
nature, with well-defined intellectuality, he was attracted to the 
needs of mortals and found his sphere of duty to be to assist the 
people of earth out of ignorance and consequent darkness; there- 
fore he joined with other spirits in their labors for the ameliora- 
tion of the children of earth. 

And. seeing that man could better be led out of conditions 
of soul slavery by there being a more extended opportunity for 
spirit return to man's cognizance, he found that this could better 
be done by bringing to bear for such purpose the laws of spirit 
chemistry. Therefore the Doctor, in spirit life, extended his 
chemical investigations farther into the field of spirituality, and 
then sought an application of his extended chemical knowledge 
and skill to the assistance of mortals. 

And, finding elements in the mortal constitution of Mr. Aber 
peculiarly adapted and requisite to the application of the laws 
of spirit return, he became the spirit chemist of a band of spirits 
who had chosen Mr. Aber as one of the persons on the mortal 
side requisite to their desired accomplishments. Not that Mr. 
Aber is the only such person, but that he is the most available 
to the natural conditions of this spirit band. 

Now, in order that a spirit shall appear to mortal eyesight, 
the spirit must be clothed with sufficient materiality to reflect 
light with such vibratory action as to record its vibrations 
on the retina. Since the spirit in mortality involuntarily clothes 
itself with flesh and blood and bones, it must be by immutable 
law. In spirit life the law of vision is the same. But spirit ether, 
in which the excarnate dwells, is very many degrees more refined 
than the gross material ether of the physical universe, incarnate 
vision being produced by given vibratory motion of the material 
ether to which the retina of the eye is by law sensitive, and not 
sensitive to any other vibrations than said given ones. But vibra- 
tions of spirit ether are as mm h more rapid than those of ma- 
terial ether as spirit ether is more refined, and the spirit sense 
must be accordingly adapted. Carnal vision is produced by one 
set of vibratory motions, adapted to the carnal sensoriuni, and 
spirit vision by very much more rapid vibratory motions, to which 
the spirit visual sensoriuni is adapted. 

No. 1. (50.) 

Any Scientific Success can Only Be under Proper Conditions and by 
Competent Persons. 

1232. "Friends, these experiments are delicate, and it is not 
open to every one to attend: for this is a scientific question, and 
these experiments must be conducted under proper conditions 
and by competent persons. 

1233. "But it will be plain to all who are familiar with 
Spiritualism that these experiments can be successful. 



240 RENDING TEE TAIL. 

1234. "First, I will say that at this inception there are but 
few who grasp, in any great degree, these phenomenal exhibitions. 

1235. "It never was intended by us spirits, initiators of these 
phenomena, to have the subject end with the knowledge of im- 
mortality; but, rather, that this knowledge might stimulate the 
mind to greater efforts to have this idea of immortal existence 
made a source of untramelled development to all the powers of 
the soul. 

"We hope this great work will rapidly run through many 
editions and be read by thousands of curious investigators. 

(Signed) "Dr. Reed." 

No. 2. (103.) 

To Understand These Phenomena Requires a Brain Well Refined. 

1236. "In order to have a full realization of the truth of 
Spiritualism, the brain must be exalted to such a grade of inten- 
sity that it will correspond with the elements in the organism. 

1237. u These advanced thoughts must require a brain of a 
great degree of refinement to be thus intense while the thought 
is projecting upon it. 

1238. "A lesser grade of mind cannot understand the true 
force and power of these transfigurations. (105.) 

1239. ''This philosophy has a religion of its own, far beyond 
the conception of creed-bound mortals, and these principles are 
eternal factors and their influence and power are eternal. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 3. (Ill d.) 

The Atom Inheres Properties of All Forms and Conditions. 

1240. "In answer to your question (111 e) I would say that 
the atom centers in itself properties of all forms and conditions 
of actual existence. 

1241. "This is the central point from which all creative 
energy proceeds, and the basis of all that manifest form. 

1242. "Hence, life is indestructible, holding within itself 
the key to unlock the portals of individuality. Therefore it is 
eternal by nature. 

1243. "This belief is founded on facts and reason and thus 
firmly established, as you come to it, by the observation of many 
facts of various kinds and under every variety of circumstances. 

1244. "Friends, you have everything to hope. Let us work 
on and on, and the full light of the day which is now dawning 
will soon appear, when the reward of all your labors will be real- 
ized in the practical brotherhood of the race. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 241 

No. 4. (112 /.) 

The World's Needs Are a Philosophy Higher than Schools Give. 

1245. "The object of this is to show that the world, espe 
daily in this day and aye, needs a philosophy higher than the 
schools can furnish, and more advantageous than the churches 
possess. 

124(5. "The world needs this in order to liberate the people 
from the hypnotic power of sacerdotalism, which it keeps alive 
for self-sustenance. What can the churches do to restore the 
people and keep a knowledge of a future life from going to decay? 

124(>^. "Every civilized mind should know and understand 
the sublime philosophy of Spiritualism, for in it a new revela- 
tion is dawning, bearing on its muscular waves the ruins of the 
temple of Error, and men and women will not remain dumb and 
blind any longer; but their eyes shall be opened. 

1247. u Mind loves truth more than any other thing. 

1248. u The love of truth is a phenomenon of the affections. 

1249. "You cannot forget the home of your childhood, nor 
the throb of bleeding hearts, nor the discords arising from the 
wrongs, unremoved, on the bosom of your own land! So we must 
return to earth. 

1250. "When I entered the realm of spirit life that belonged 
to higher spheres, I sought the secret of wisdom. I only received 
the better grade of spiritual thought. 

1251. "People grow brutalized when they fail to become 
spiritualized. 

1252. a These spiritual manifestations, however, will teach 
the theologic world a valuable lesson, viz.: That the divine can- 
not flow into human churches without participating in the im- 
perfections of the latter. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 5. (110.) 

Love. 

125-3. "Love is a most potent factor in Spiritualism, being 
the active power in all life. 

(a) "Even the grass loves and draws to it the elements by 
which it grows; but that kind of love is selfish, because it is lim- 
ited to itself. Such is the nature of all love devoid of knowledge. 

1254. "The religious zeal of all ages has been the cause of 
more crime, bloodshed, and misery than any other one feature 
of man's nature. 

1255. "So with the religious devotee; and, in their struggles, 
they have looked for the cause of their difficulties in everything 
but themselves; and they, being out of the divine order, saw 
everything unlike themselves as evil, and are ever ready to de- 
stroy it. 



242 RENDING J HE TAIL. 

1256. "This gives to man a base of everlastingness in the 
remedies, crude in the capacity of progress of which we are able 
to assign no limit. 

1257. "Remember, dear brethren, there is a grander world 
than yours — there is a diviner life, a more glorifying condition 
than that of the body. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 6. (122 ) 

The Inquiring Mind Desires Knowledge of That Beyond Present 
Earthly Facilities to Attain. 

1258. "It is an utter impossibility for the real seeker after 
truth or scientific knowledge willingly to oppose the hypothesis 
of Spiritualism. 

(a) "This leads all to desire a knowledge of that which lies 
beyond the reach of your present earthly facilities; and the more 
you investigate this sublime subject the more real is the 
-scientific aspiration, and the more refined and devoted is the 
investigator. 

(b) "With the testimony of so many witnesses and the as- 
surance we give every true Spiritualist in the land, we come to 
your aid in sympathy, and this helps you to acquire a consum- 
mation so grand and glorious. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 7. (125.) 

An Exhortation to Consider of the Glorious Home Beyond. — The Chris- 
tian World Rejects the Truth of Spiritualism because It 
Flashes Light upon Its Origin. 

1259. "It may seem hard to lose a child upon whom a moth- 
er's love has been so lovingly expended, and which, to nature, 
is indeed a terrible one. 

(a) "But if the mother understood these laws, she would 
know that death is but the gateway of a happier life, in which 
pain and sickness and disappointment cannot enter. She surely 
ought not to be sorry for the little one as though some dreadful 
evil had befallen it. 

(b) "Death is no unusual accident or catastrophe, but the 
commonest lot. A few years more is all that could have been 
added to the life that stops. 

(c) "How comforting the belief — if you wish to call it such 
— that the dead are only separated from you, for a brief interval, 
by a thin vail, through which you may, in happy moments, catch 
glimpses of us; and, in hours of gloom and solitude, feel our cheer- 
ing presence! 

(d) "Persons of strong spiritual perceptions feel our near- 
ness and communion as their greatest joy. Such is possible to 



READING THE VAIL. 243 

all of you, because it is rational and in unison with the best feel- 
ings and yearnings of your nature. 

(e) ''Think of the happy hours awaiting each one where aie 
the spreading landscape, the groves and trees, the smooth-flowing 
river, the merry peal of bells flowing over hill and dale, and the 
melody of birds! 

(/) 4k On the higher banks to which death carries you, there 
is a sweeter gardening toil, which is, indeed, no toil at all, but 
perpetual happiness. 

1260. "It is not strange that the Christian world rejects 
the truths of Spiritualism in this age, when it flashes so much 
light upon the obscurity of its origin ; hence they seek, in all man- 
ners known to deceivers, to prevent a knowledge of the truth 
reaching the earth from the spirit world; and by wholesale de- 
nunciations of all spiritual manifestations. 

1261. "There is an influx of thought upon this subject pour- 
ing in upon your earth to-day. We shall make this the fountain- 
head of Spiritualism, and greater shall be the power: for herein 
has come the light of the world which enlightens every one that 
comes into it. 

(a) "This is the center where all the nations of the earth 
will meet in peace and harmonv — this governs the life eternal. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 8. (143.) 

The Organization of Man Traceable in Every Department of Nature. 

1262. "This philosophy unfolds the grand scheme of the 
material creation. 

1263. "The principles of life are traced progressively, from 
the Fountain-head throughout all the diversified avenues and 
interminable labyrinths of simple and organic existence. 

1264. "The entire scale of mineral, vegetable, and animal 
organizations is exhibited and classified in their orders and 
shapes of adaptation. 

1265. "In all the foliaceous expansions, visible on your sur- 
face, of mineral rocks; in all the developments and incipient 
points of organic life — in all, we behold the unmistakable organ- 
ization of man. 

1266. "There is nothing any more supernatural in the for- 
mation and perpetuation of spirits than there is in the growth 
of plants and trees. 

1267. "Our spiritual body is matter spiritualized, as the 
flower is earth refined. 

(a) "As this work goes slowly onward, we turn our batter- 
ies on the opposers and unlock the shackles of bigotry. 

1268. (a) "The skeptic's first investigation of these devel- 
opments returns with the persuasion that these manifestations 
are closely allied to the doings of jugglery. 



244 RENDING TEIE VAIL. 

(b) "The second visit convinces him of the truth of mind- 
reading. 

(c) "The third satisfies him that mesmerism explains it all. 

(d) "The fourth and fifth investigations open his blinded 
heart, dissipate his materialism, and persuade him of the possi- 
bility of spirit intercourse: for 

(e) "Here is abundance of proof that dwellers of this life 
are in daily communication with minds of persons who yet in- 
habit the temple of clay; and 

if) ''Spiritual intercourse is an established fact, based upon 
the continued existence of the soul, with all the senses and facul- 
ties after the material body is placed in the tomb. 

1269. "If you believe that the soul continues to exist after 
death, you must, to be consistent, also believe that the soul may 
return ladened with affections — return to the home of its child- 
hood and bring tidings of great joy to those who have ears to 
hear: 

"For the spirit of man can certainly converse when out of 
the body as it can when in it. 

1270. "It takes this power to crush the Christian priest 
hood. It is ignorant and degraded. It is incapable of compre- 
hending or teaching the sublime principles of Spiritualism. Such 
is the true status of the Christian theologians of this day; and, 
moreover, they have filled the world with the most absurd tales: 
that they are the only saved people in existence; yet their men- 
tality is so low that they cannot understand the first idea of spirit- 
ual progression. 

1271. "Mortals may seek to perpetuate a knowledge of 
spiritual truth through the old channels — we spirits can open 
new avenues at will; and this present work is to dispel the dark- 
ness in which ancient superstitions were bred. 

1272. 'Therefore, the ardent apostles of the new revelation 
need not think their work will be retarded by opposers, or seri- 
ouslv benefited bv their indorsement. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

1273. The time of this writing, by Mr. Boicourt's watch, w 7 as 
62 seconds. Nearly 500 words in 1 minute! (146.) 

No. 9. (151 a-g.) 

Scientific Minds on the Spirit Side in Advance of Religious. 

1274. "In order to have a full realization of the truth of 
Spiritualism, or any subject that lies beyond the realms of the 
physical senses, the mental action of the brain must be exalted 
to that grade of intensity which will correspond with the actions 
of the elements in the organism. Hence, the expression of ad- 
vanced thought must require a brain of a great degree of refine- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 245 

ment, and its action will necessarily be intense while the thought 
is being projected upon it. 

(a) "This is why there is such a marked difference between 
the ideas of religious thinkers. 

1275. "I find the scientific minds here, in spirit life, are as 
far in advance of the religious as they are in the physical realm; 
for the bias of the individual carries him forward in the line of 
natural development of mentality far more rapidly upon the plane 
of science than one can upon the plane of superstition which lies 
at the basis of all earthly religion. 

1276. "Spiritualism is a religion of its own, far beyond the 
conception of creed-bound mortals, and radiates to the world of 
mortals the principles which underlie all forms and grades of 

creative power; but it presents these as everliving and everlast- 
ing factors. 

1277. "The mind must be fed on truth to be strong and sym- 
metrical ; and the nearer it can approach the truth in its purity, 
the more powerful these developments are in any line or depart- 
ment of Spiritualism or science. 

1278. "There may be enthusiasm and devotion to error and 
determination to uphold it as of equal importance with the truth, 
but the endeavor to preserve the error at all costs only results 
in crippling the reasoning powers and holding the mind upon a 
plane where mental activity is paralyzed. But it is encouraging 
that never has there been such a general demand for this truth 
and the svstems in Nature as at this period. 

(Signed) "Dr. RcedP 
(Continued.) 
Time, 37 seconds; 314 words. (See 151 e.) 

No. 10. (155.) 

The Priesthood Once Thought An get Visits an Honor, hut Now a 
Great Disgrace. 

1279. "Spirit phenomena have been a puzzle to the experi 
menters in the field of science. It has often been observed that 
we spirits have appeared in your seances with much power as 
well as interest in the success of the phenomena. 

1280. "It was once thought, by the Christian priesthood, 
that our presence was a great honor to the circle, and evidence 
that lofty motives upon the part of the spirit induced it to appear 
there. But it seems that they, too. were working out their sal 
ration with spirits less enlightened, whom they once despised. 
However, as the spirit philosophers are ever ready to assist all 
to rise above the plane of selfishness, our presence is not to be 
regarded as of more consequence than that of other spirits who 
are working for the enlightenment of mankind. 

1281. "This is a task worthy of the mind, and the noblest 
souls in the world eternal are aroused to the highest exertion. 



246 REX DING THE TAIL. 

1282. "In this work there is no spirit of bitterness, nor is 
there any disposition to arouse the antagonistic passions that 
pertain to the savage state; but, rather, as genial rays of the sun 
stimulate the soul to bring forth fruits that bless and benefit the 
human race, so the influx of spiritual light from the higher 
spheres of life calls forth the spirits of pure thoughts and holy 
desires. 

1283. "I have never been idle or weary in my labors to in- 
stitute this knowledge throughout the world. 

1284. "This is not understood by myriads who are now sub- 
ject to these influences, but that matters not, provided these in- 
fluences have their proper work. 

1285. "When we spirits wish to reach a mind in your mor- 
tal sphere with the finest forms of spiritual knowledge, it has 
to be done by coming in spiritual contact with the mental sphere 
of embodied spirit, and the thoughts of the latter are modified I 
by it. (Signed) "Reed." 

No. 11. (168-169 a-g.) 

Writing with Common Ink, as a Crucial Test Experiment. — Through 
Mediums, Spirits can Demonstrate to Man of Their Powers. 

1286. "Friends, how can any one of reasoning faculties 
doubt the sublime truth of Spiritualism and its wonderful man 
ifestations? 

"Phenomena have existed through all ages up to the present 
epoch of this century, and yet you of the present day do not be- 
gin to comprehend the unerring rules and laws that will guide 
you in searching after light and truth and to the development 
of the forces in nature inherent in mankind; a knowledge of 
which is not gained in a day, week, or month, but only after a 
strict observance of the law and rules, and careful study of them 
also, earnestly, constantly following these sublime teachings. 

1287. "Through mediums you are enabled to understand 
the wonderful powers they possess. By continual study the dawn 
of light illuminates the darkness and you feel the presence of 
your spirit friends, whose loving, watchful care admonishes you 
to follow the true path that leads to a higher sphere and a true' 
knowledge of yourselves, so that, by continuing, you are enabled 
to see these refulgent rays of spiritual truth in all its purity. 

1288. "We draw around you a halo of light, love, and hap- 
piness unknown to those who have not studied the simple rules 
which guide you through the doctrines of Spiritualism until ^ou 
receive ocular demonstrations of the immortality of the soul, and 
are at length enabled to fully comprehend spirit manifestations 
in all their wondrous truth and beauty. 

"But to acquire knowledge, and obtain any branch of learn- 
ing, you must study earnestly and constantly. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



RENDIJSG THE VAIL. 247 

No. 12. (177.) 

The Two Assumption*: Theological (1290), Scientific (1291-1292). 

1289. "Friends, what mysteries of unfathomable depth en- 
viron you on every side! 

1200. ''But, after all your speculations and attempts to 
grapple with the problems of the universe, the simplest conception 
which explains and connects the phenomena is that of the exist- 
ence of one Spiritual Being — infinite in wisdom and power and all 
divine perfection, which exists always and everywhere, which has 
created you with intellectual faculties sufficient, in some degree, 
to comprehend these operations, as they are developed in nature 
by what is called science. 

(a) "Your being is unchangeable, and therefore these oper- 
ations are always in accordance with the same laws, conditions 
being the same. 

(b) "Indeed, a universe not governed by law would be a uni- 
verse without the evidence of an intellectual director. 

1291. "Yet in the scientific explanation of physical phenom- 
ena w T e assume the existence of a principle having properties suf- 
ficient to produce these effects which you observe. 

1292. "The principle of atomic action which people observe 
in the physical form is unchanged by the transfer of the spirit 
form to the elements in the higher state. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 13. (179.) 

Great Mistake of the Church. 

1293. "Friends, the Church is making a great mistake in 
' denouncing Spiritualism and doing what it can to bring into dis 

credit and disrepute those of its members who come to believe in 
these teachings. 

1291. "Outside of Spiritualism there is no satisfying evi- 
dence of a life beyond the grave; and, were it possible to obliter- 
ate from your minds all memory and faith in the evidence which 
Spiritualism furnishes in its pure and beautiful teachings, your 
world would indeed be in spiritual darkness. 

1295. "When you discern that there is something more than 
deception or delusion in these manifestations, you will not be 
repelled by apprehension of danger to your cherished opinion; 
but the question is forced from your lips: 'Is it possible that 
there is another side of existence?' 

129fi. "When you understand these laws, you are ready to 
take the first step in the primary education of humanity: that the 
state of spirit life differs, in every essential, in every particular, 
from the state of the physical body. 

1297. "Your greatest need on entering the spirit life is 
knowledge. 



248 REXDIXG THE TAIL. 

129S. "While in the physical, you feel it to be physical food 
and shelter. 

1299. "And when we knock at the portals of your hearts, 
give us room to enter. 

1300. ''When you go into your own nature and understand 
yourself, when you read the mysteries of your being, when you 
look away from your position and earthly conditions up to these 
divine laws and see how great is the range, then you will begin 
to understand something of the mysteries of Nature. 

(a) "Let this blow out into the beauty and harmony of per- 
fect lives. 

(b) "Here you approach a mighty truth, in whose majestic 
presence you feel inclined to lay aside your dusty sandals. 

1301. "Friends, go away from sects and creeds, from bother- 
ing with them. 

(a) "Stand face to face with a sublimer revelation. 

(b) "Only as you build up these broad foundations oun you 
rear a glorious superstructure against which all the winds of 
changing theories and the descending floods of mere speculative 
philosophy will not be able to prevail. 

(c) "You might come and go as form; but as essences you 
could not vanish in the realms of eternal oblivion." 

Then, continuing, Dr. Reed wrote his paper 

No. 11. (179.) 

Death. 

1302. "There is no death, friends. 

(a) "Through the beautiful laws of Nature the tree throws 
off her leaves to take on something more beautiful when kissed 
by the soft winds of spring. 

(b) "Why should this not be a lesson for each and every 
one of you ? 

(c) "Why should you fear to die? — or the proper word is 
'change,' for 'tis only throwing off the old form for one .with the 
same degree of added beauty as there is to the young beautiful 
sprouts of spring with a finished texture and more sublimated 
beauty. 

(cl) "Do you not pass the severed and withered leaf by, as 
something having lost its usefulness, and with tender admiration 
look upon the new life, the new leaf which has breathed its new 
beauty into the new life? 

1303. "As it is with the leaf, so it is with you — every leaf 
stem is a cradle in which a germ is rocked. 

(a) "Bye and bye, after Nature has run her course, the 
finer, more sublimated, shall spring from this old body of yours. 

1304. "Just as the new leaf is born in the soft summer 
breeze, just so truly shall you be born into new summer life. 



READING THE VAIL. 249 

"See to it, then, that the leaves may be beautiful : for as it is 
with the neglected tree placed in the shade, so it will be with you. 
"Continue to live in the sunshine of God (Nature). 

1305. "Then so cultivate the old trunk of the tree that it 
will not bring forth pale dwarfed leaves, but sound and fully de- 
veloped ones, which will afford delight to those who look upon 
them, under which the weary traveler may rest and be refreshed. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 15. (183.) 

Spiritual Organisms of Same Elements as the Physical, but the Spirit- 
ual More Eefined. 

1306. "The natural result of the light of the great law of 
immortality of the spirit is seen in the rapid rise of intellectual 
powers among nearly all nations on your planet, wuthin the past 
century. 

(a) "You need no prophet's eye to foresee what will be the 
outcome of a general realization of this truth. 

1307. "This explanation of the nature of immortality gives 
you a logical and demonstrable ground for the consideration of 
this phenomenon which has been the basis of all that have been 
embalmed in the sacred and curious literature of past ages, and 
your false conceptions will fade away in the dawn of the light of 
these scientific illuminations. 

1308. "It is true, friends, that each type of life has a spirit- 
ual counterpart. 

(a) 'This is not a scientific speculation or hypothesis, but a 
physical organization. 

(b) "So, by careful experiments, you can verify this law in 
many instances. 

1309. "In earth life this power is dimly sensed, yet some 
can cultivate it and thereby become spiritually enlightened, as 
you are able to obtain ideas from the spirit world without the 
long and tedious process of having it strained through earthly 
channels. 

1310. "Your existence proves beyond a doubt that a departed 
human being can inhabit your earth: for, if this does not prove 
the existence of a spirit, it does not prove the existence of an 
embodied spirit. So, you see, one cannot exist without the other. 
Therefore the same elements that compose your structure com- 
pose ours; only the elements of ours are more sublimated and 
refined. 

"Friends, the mind continually yearns for the inspiration 
of the present. 

1311. "These writings are from a previous generation of peo- 
ple, subject in their daily life to other surroundings and actuated 
by natures differing in many particulars from those that gov- 
ern von. 



250 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(a) Hence, you are adopted by us as the representatives of 
our spiritual knowledge and aspirations. For you to be adopted 
to every people and every occasion is not wise or just. Neverthe 
less we are ever, with you, members of one great brotherhood, 
though in many things we differ. 

(b) "All being subject to the great law of progression, we 
have advanced not only in our thought and science, but also in 
our views of the Supreme Principle. 

(c) "Many of you seem to have overlooked each other in 
the same path down through the dark ages of superstition. 

1312. "Theology of the present day differs from that of the 
past — in so far as the views and relations to each other and of 
your present and future existence, it takes a much broader scope. 
You grasp it with the hands of a stronger and more rational 
faith. And with the great fact of immortality your thoughts and 
feelings are inspired, so that your songs of praise, your words of 
cheer, and your devotional aspirations may be harmonious re- 
sponses to the highest conceptions of the soul. 

"This has been called forth by the stirring events transpiring 
around you. 

1313. "The spirit world is fully expressive of these higher 
and glorious truths within you that move your thoughts to ac- 
tion in behalf of an absolute freedom of mind and body, supply- 
ing your present wants and needs ; and that every reform, relig- 
ious, political, social, and domestic, may find within this that 
which will cheer the soldier in life's great battle. 

1314. "Like the music you hear in the sweet chain of affec- 
tion for those you love, gently the current comes like a soft sum- 
mer zephyr, kissing your brow; so this soft chain of affection 
melting all your harsh nature to tears. 

(a) "Like the soft summer rain or gentle dewdrops making 
your lives sparkle as does the dewdrop when kissed by the sun. 

(b) "Love, affection, and a smile for the dear ones who have 
passed over. 

(c) "Love, affection, and a tear for those who remain with 
you still struggling up life's highway. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 16. (201.) 

When Thought from Spirit can Reach Earth Free from, Creed and 
Craft, Man will Mount up Swiftly. 

1315. "As the soul of man is able to unfold in greater power 
and perfection in the spirit world, so its methods of thought- 
expression will be lofty and sublime. When it is able to send these 
ideas back to the mortal life untrammeled by superstition or 
craft, you will shine with a divine radiance, for it will lift you 
to a higher concept of the meaning of life itself. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 251 

1316. "You will not leave the plane of earthly thoughts, 
although you never will be able to enter again the mortal state, 
in rebirth, and exhibit there the neglect of the law of spiritual 
unfoldment. 

1317. "Above all, friends, you must teach the women of to- 
day that to them is delegated the work of unfolding in no slight 
degree the character of the forming spirit as well as the embry- 
onic body. The mother's soul should expand with love and hope 
of eternal blessedness. 

(Signed) "Feed," 
Time, 42 seconds; 112 words; 3^ words per second. 

No. 17. (206.) 

Spirits Thoroughly Preconsidered This Undertaking. — Spiritualism is 
Scientific Religion, but Science, along Other Lines, has Had 
to Endure Sneers Even of Scientist*, and Wait 
Twenty-five or Fifty Years. 

1318. "You are conscious of this happy truth, friends; and, 
feeling that the interest of Spiritualism is growing into favor 
with the people everywhere, you are consulting with friends both 
in spirit and earth life who weighed this undertaking with great 
earnestness; you venture out; and, after a year of close and inde- 
fatigable labor, propose to present to the world these great truths. 

1319. "We are thankful, friends, that you have lavished 
upon us your kind tokens of regard. Words are inadequate to 
express the gratitude we cherish for the sympathy and assistance 
of so many workers in our arduous cause. 

"We have aimed at justice to all from the foundation of truth. 

1319. "Spiritualism is scientfic religion, tending to more 
thoroughly cultivate the religious nature, perfect individual char- 
acter, and harmonize society. 

"Let these few lines be used that golden truth may be deeply 
engraved upon your memory. 

1320. "Now, friends, science has taken her honor when even 
the stars have not been exempt from being blotted out from the 
firmament by astronomical agnostics. 

1321. "Chemistry has been obliged to wait, even in her 
scientific formulas, sometimes a quarter- or half-century, before 
being accepted as chemistry realized. 

1322. "Men in the foremost ranks of science have endured 
the sneers of their fellow-scientists. 

1323. "Spiritualism, and truth, and facts, and honesty, are 
in many ways synonymous, while unpopular. 

(a) "But when fully realized in its true sense, Spiritualism 
will be appreciable and become the high standard for society to 
live and act by. 

(b) "We shall endeavor to make the subject so plain that 
a child mav understand. 



252 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(c) "Why should these teachings be ignored in this age by 
those claiming to believe that they existed in the past ages? 

(d) "The laws of Nature have not changed. The same laws 
that governed and controlled the universe thousands of years 
ago govern it now." 

(Answer to Question 6.) 

1324. "We visit each other from sphere to sphere the same 
as you visit your friends on earth, only it does not take us so 
long to make our journey." 

1325. "Man is the highest development of known intelligent 
individuality existing on your earth sphere and is the result of 
time in development and unfoldment from the lower order ot 
animals. 

1326. "The laws of Nature are unchangeable. You will see 
the unfolding process going on in all stages of life as you do in 
lower forms of life." 

(Answer to Question 205 a.) 

1327. "Electricity is an action by which the nature of a 
substance is changed. A combination of elements coming to- 
gether causing electricity also assumes the form of heat. 1 ' 
(205 n.) 

1328. "Electric light is produced by having the poles tipped 
with charcoal and then drawing them a little way apart. The light 
is not due to the burning charcoal: for it is as bright when made 
in a vacuum where the carbon cannot burn at all.' 1 (205 n.) 

No. IS. (224.) 

More Spiritual Light to the World in the Last Fifty Years than in the 
Preceding Five Hundred Years. 

1329. "Spiritualism is not in its infancy as it was thousands 
of years ago, when people were so grossly ignorant as to think 
all the manifestations were from the devil. 

1330. "Your Bible does not teach that all the manifesta- 
tions were from Satan. 

1331. "The world has suffered by ignorance too long. The 
destiny of man will henceforth be better understood. 

1332. "Friends, Spiritualism has taught more truth to the 
world in the last fifty years than had been shed upon the world 
in the preceding five hundred. 

(a) "It has educated people to think for themselves. 
\o) "Thought is the life principle of the great center of 
intelligence. 

(c) "It has aroused the finer minds to investigate these di- 
vine principles. 

(d) "Day and night you are taught dogmas of church creed. 

(e) "Spiritual light is now streaming, and false teaching- 
being banished from the minds of men. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 253 

(/) ''Stand firm, uoble workers in the form. Around every 
one is formed a band of spirits. 

1333. "We are trying to crush the error existing among 
so many creeds. J We depend upon workers, to help us, who are 
still in the form. Thousands are hungering for this light and 
knowledge, and yet how few there are who have the moral cour- 
age to grasp the truth when it is presented to them. 

1334. "Oh, my dear friends, your loved ones are still human, 
possessing the same love that filled their souls when they were 
with you in the mortal form. Death does not rob them of a sin- 
gle faculty. 

1335. "On this side of life there are grand spiritualized 
minds working for the love of humanity. After we have demon- 
strated the after-life, we seek to open communication between 
the two worlds which will enable your loved ones gone before to 
speak to you of their change called death. 

1336. "Dear friends, this is a world of beauty, melody, and 
happiness; yet the material eye doth not see. Bridge the river 
of light so you may cross softly over; fear not the rolling tide, 
but cling to the truth, and it will carry you over the bridge safely. 

1337. "We talk and write best in presence of intelligent 
people. We cannot display our powers of rhetoric or elocution 
in the presence of a tool, no matter how much wealth he pos- 
sesses. Such people should keep out of circles. They cannot com- 
prehend the philosophy of Spirtualism as taught by us. 

(Signed) ' "Reed." 

No. 19. (241 &.) 

Spiritualism as a Growth. 

1338. "You now see that Spiritualism is a growth, and a 
process maintained and secured by an everlasting principle. 

(a) "We have in our possession a power that must shake 
the w T orld. 

(b) "We leave others to expound this philosophy and teach 
the world of mortals lessons which Spiritualism conveys to man, 
pointing out to humanity as it does, through bright and glorious 
teachers like these, the broadest pathway of living facts. 

(c) "This phenomena appeals to the senses of man and 
shakes old and deep-rooted convictions that are grounded in error 
to such an extent that they totter with decay and fall. 

(d) "In spite of all that seems empty and filled with shad- 
ows, you know this is a grand truth to which you can all cling. 
We assert that the cause was never more useful than it is at this 
day, and that it never was more powerful than at the present 
time. 

(e) "It is engaging the attention of the clergy, and gradually 
compelling them to be convinced that there is an underlying and 



254 RENDING THE VAIL. 

everlasting truth which they dare not push aside. We know what 
they assert from abroad as well as at home. 

(/) ''There is going on a thought for the investigation of 
the spiritual phenomena which will produce its sure results. 

1339. "Therefore, we appeal to you all to stand firmly by 
the truth. There is to be a grand shaking up in your midst, so 
stand fast by what you know to be true. Have nothing to appre- 
hend, friends: for those who are not certain of themselves to look 
well to their surroundings, as they are likely to be swept away 
in the grand upheaval which is now approaching. 

1340. "The hypocrite will be wholly swept away, so as -to 
give room for those that are pure to enter. 

(a) "Those that are decayed must be cast out from your 
midst, so that whoever will remain may do his useful work. 

(b) "You who are Spiritualists cannot avoid or shirk from 
your duty, for it is sure to come. You need give yourselves no 
concern, however, if you endeavor to do your best with a sincere 
and honest purpose. 

1341. "That which you cannot master, leave to higher pow- 
ers and mightier forces than you control or possess. All of this 
training is necessary to your mental growth. 

1342. "No one can successfully study anything in nature 
without adhering closely to the laws that govern it. 

1343. "If you seek to communicate with any one at a dis- 
tance by means of electricity, you must first establish a medium of 
communication. So the sooner you understand the laws the 
better. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 20. (251.) 

Death but a Second Birth. — No Escape from the Results of Life. 

1344. "Spiritualism shows death to be as natural as birth, 
and the same thing — the former to be birth into spirit life. 

(a) "The one is just as essential to complete the full pro- 
gramme of life as the other: therefore, when properly under- 
stood, you no longer have the fear of death. Death, which is con- 
sidered dark and dismal, and known to be universal to all, is but 
a change. 

(b) "In the most elevated moments you see how mathemat- 
ically certain every act is followed by its legitimate consequences. 

1345. Every volition of the mind of man is forever engraved, 
in readable characters, upon something. 

1346. "In the various relations subsisting between man and 
Nature, I know of no compromise policies, no actual atonement, 
no possible way to escape the plain results of life. 

1347. "The garment of materiality which now subsists be- 
tween vou and the spiritual will one day drop off. 

'(Signed) "Reed:" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 255 

No. 21. (261.) 

1348. "Do not get the impression that we may lead irrelig- 
ious lives and all will go well with us. 

(a) "You never can have the direful effect of sin impressed 
upon you so strongly as by what you have learned through Spirit- 
ualism. You have never had the transcendent importance of 
character so impressed upon you. 

1349. "The old view, put before a wicked man, of a hell that 
is inevitable with tortures inconceivable, and whose duration 
is endless, filled you with a vague horror; but, as you emerged 
from childhood, it grew more and more vague and unreal to you; 
and, long before you began to confess, even to yourself, any doubt 
about it, you can see that it was not making the impression of 
an actual truth upon you. 

1350. "But Spiritualism teaches that if a man descends into 
the pit of sin on your side of life, he has got to work his way out 
of it over here by slow and most painful struggles upward for 
years. The hell is in the man's own soul.^— 

1351. "Therefore you must keep yourselves pure if you wisli 
to have the help of pure spirits. 

1352. "You must be unselfish, and upright, and truthful, 
if you wish to make your hearts a castle that devils cannot enter. 

1353. "If you open the door and let in devils, the good spirits 
cannot abide there, and you become a prey of the evil ones. 

1351. ''You cannot conceive how the lessons of virtue and 
goodness can be better taught than by Spiritualism. 

1355. "You must remember, friends, that the power rests 
within us — to us you must give account. But you may comfort 
yourslves with the thought that we are your father, ever ready 
to help you — asking for our trust another love. 

1356. "And after you have wandered in imagination over 
the whole universe, you ought not only to be able to say, but to 
love to say: 'Whom have I loved thee in spirit and there is none 
upon earth that I desired beside thee.' 

1357. "It will take a lifetime to know all that is to be 
learned in this philosophy. This is no superficial theory that can 
be learned from books alone or from institutions; but it is indi- 
vidual growth and experience that settles conditions in the 
minds of all thinking persons. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 22. (283.) 

(See Denton's No. 12, pars. 1670-1075.) 

No Miracles Possible, for Immutable Lair is Supreme. 

1358. "These facts show that in the whole realm of being 
nothing takes place excepting through the most absolute system 
— through consecutive process of cause and effect — and it all 



256 RENDING THE VAIL. 

shows that God himself, who is the life of the whole, works ac- 
cording to law. 

1359. "If gravitation had ever been for a single moment sus- 
pended, or the amazing force of chemical affinity turned into 
something else, then you might lament in bitter anguish: for it 
would show that there is no immortality in the plan of things and 
no absolute basis for science and unerring knowledge. 

(a) "If any power in or about Nature had ever been known 
to act in this arbitrary way, it would bid farewell to all arrange- 
ment and be prepared for the worst: for who shall say that 
such a lawless being may not choose to blot the universe from 
existence? 

1360. "Many superficial thinkers and philosophers cry out 
'Atheism!' and declare that 'You are banishing God from the 
world whenever you show that this immutable law reigns every- 
where and that these things are being developed by an absolute 
system of evolution from lower to higher conditions.' 

(a) "Who but the infinite Spirit Power and Wisdom could 
ever bring about such wonderful results as these? 

1361. "Away with devils, and dogmas, and traditions, and 
fears, and superstitions. Sweep aside the cobwebs that encircle 
your eyes. Then lift the vail, clear up the mists, let in the light, 
illuminate your soul: for then, at last, you may see the shining 
ladder, which links your earth to this world and upon which we 
are ever descending and ascending. 

(Signed) "Dr. Reed." 

No. 23. (286.) 

Spiritual Body v^-y Temporarily Leave the Physical and Return, but 
must Hold Magnetic Connection. 

1362. "The spiritual body, friends, can unite with inani- 
mate electricity and travel somewhat as your physical body 
travels on earth. But while it is yet gone temporarily from the 
physical body, it keeps up a connection with the physical and 
returns to it before death ensues — but not always. 

1363. "There are cases in which the physical body is asleep 
during which the spirit has power to see and know things intel- 
ligible. You have amongst you those who have slept soundly 
even while they talked on. 

1364. "That should be evidence to you that there is a spirit- 
ual body within you capable of manifesting intelligence while 
the gross matter is unconscious. 

(a) "You all know that you dream while physically asleep. 

(b) "You have within you that which can think, even while 
your bodies lie dormant and helpless. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 257 

No. 24. (293.) 

Photography in Astronomical Investigation and Discovery will Soon 
Make Revelations to That Science. 

1365. "The brain cannot always take in the perceptions of 
the eye fast enough, and the eye is not sensitive to images whose 
brightness falls below a certain limit. 

1366. "In photography a prolonged exposure may be made 
to compensate for deficiency in luminous power; and, the sensi- 
tive plate being competent to respond to quicker vibrations than 
the eye, it is possible to obtain photographs of celestial objects 
radiating light which the eye is not adapted to receive. 

1367. "The power of photography to portray the nebulae 
has been thoroughly demonstrated. 

1368. "The art is being and has been applied to the aberra- 
tion of comets, and will be brought into play for the paths of 
meteors, the discovery of new planets, and other purposes, now 
hardly thought of. 

1369. "And here allow me, if you please, one digression. 
Let me warn you mortals to be careful how you speak and think 
of us who have departed the mortal life. Let your thoughts and 
words be as charitable and kind as possible: for by so doing you 
furnish a beacon light that will brighten our paths upward. 

1370. "If you speak ill of us, you then hurl a stone at us 
which will drag us downward; but we will come up, while you 
will be left in darkness to struggle on through davs and ages. 

(Signed) * "Reed." 

No. 25. (302.) 

Spiritualism Demands Investigation, Destroys Superstition, and Also 
Destroys Infidelity in Future L , . 

1371. "Spiritualism is before the work *or investigation as 
to its claims, demanding that its assailants either investigate or 
cease to bear false witness against it. 

1372. "I affirm that Spiritualism alone stands against all 
superstitions; therefore it is absolutely destructive of supersti- 
tion, because it demonstrates and shows a cause for every effect 
brought home to human consciousness. It is that which sur- 
rounds you and of which you become conscious that enables you 
to draw conclusions and make deductions as these things are im- 
pressed upon your mind. 

1373. "On the other hand, Spiritualism destroys infidelity 
in the existence of man after your sphere of life closes. This is 
one of the legitimate fruits of the tree of Spiritualism, which 
the clergy designate as the very worst tree in the orchard of 
necromancy. 

1374. "There are thousands of clergymen who are hunger- 
i. ing for this knowledge, and there are thousands of others who 



258 RENDING THE VAIL. 

have attained this knowledge secretly, quietly, and just as they 
dare leave the haunts of superstition and break the bread of 
truth. 

1375. "You have had many clergymen tell you that they had 
a sort of faith in what they preached, but they had no knowledge 
of this truth. 

(a) "Theologians seem to think that what a man believes is 
more important than what he is. 

(1)) "Spiritualism, when rightly understood and directed, be- 
comes beautiful and ennobling to mankind. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 2G. (306.) 

Man Should Devote Himself to Experience in the Spiritual as Well 
as in the Material World. 

1376. "Kind friends, almost all knowledge comes to man 
through experience, and he has attained his present degree of 
civilization and perfection through long ages of experiment. 

1377. "But, as the mind has been chiefly directed to investi- 
gation of the physical world instead of excursion into realms of 
spirit, therefore the knowledge you have of these obscure truths 
is imperfect. 

1378. "Now it is necessary, in order to understand the spirit- 
ual laws and principles governing this world, to devote the same 
care and patience in investigation of it that are found indis- 
pensable in obtaining knowledge concerning the world in which 
you live. 

1379. "Let the people know that this world is'a real world, 
and kings and queens, emperors and popes shall no longer 
coin gold out of the ignorance and misery of the multitudes: for 
this knowledge, covering the earth as the waters the ocean-bed, 
would become man's savior even on earth. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 27. (1313.) 

No Cathedral so Grand, No Temple More Sacred than Open Fields of 

Spiritualism. 

1380. "In the sad hours of trial, when human hope seems 
lingering in its sockets, it points to the golden rays of the setting 
sun, or some fairer land, where sorrows leave and mourners no 
more walk the streets or sing the dirge of death. 

1381. "This cheers the red man in his lonely hut by point- 
ing to him some future paradise — a better hunting-ground, a land 
of plenty and of perpetual summer; a land where the chase of 
deer will be no more, where the aching head will cease to throb 
or the scalding tears to fall as dewdrops upon the cold face of 
the sleeping dead. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 259 

1382. "This is a land where, in your eager fancy, you may 
roye in the gardens of beauty and listen to the music of birds 
and the enchanting murmur of rolling rills, and the gentle 
zephyrs as they blow along the sweet pathway of opening buds 
and blooming flowers or dance amid the pendant leaves of for- 
ests rare, where happy spirits dwell and immortal fruits on trees 
enduring grow. 

1383. "Human art may unfold a thousand beauties and give 
to the world important lessons of wisdom. There is no cathedral 
so grand — no temple more sacred than the open fields of Spirit- 
ualism: for Nature's holy temples are ever those of freedom. 

"No iron bolts, no costly bars can close their doors or shut 
us out from the spiritual gospel. 

(Signed) "Eee&» 

No. 28. (322.) 

Worlds Inconceivable in Size and Number Moving in Silence at an 
Inconceivable Velocity. 

1384. "Friends, this truth is the universal confirmation of 
Nature. It is not so much a source of surprise to you as was the 
apparent indifference by the greater portion of mankind with 
regard to the impending danger awaiting them. 

1385. "Clergymen recognize this belief, in their theology, 
but their practices are so divorced from their theories and pro 
fessed belief that they cannot resist the impression that their 
actions give the lie to their convictions. 

1386. "Oh, friends, if the combinations of books written by 
different authors who entertain dissimilar views — the one pro- 
claiming theirs to be a 'jealous God,' another declaring a 'God of 
love,' the one exacting vengeance, a tooth for a tooth, the other 
teaching forgiveness and love to one another. 

1387. "If that great book be the true work of God, why are 
not a great number of the twelve hundred millions of the earth's 
inhabitants more acquainted with it? 

1388. "If God by voluntary volition created the heavens and 
earth, and if he has destroyed cities, led children to war. and 
cursed nations with famine and disease by the local exercise of 
the Almighty: then, can He not create a law by which we spirits 
can return to earth's children? 

1389. "Friends, surrounding you on every side are worlds 
innumerable and harmoniously divine. The sublime beauty here 
excels all language to express. Every world is decorated with 
lesser worlds like flowers of unutterable grandeur. 

1390. "We are all flying through the fathomless realms of 
infinite space with the velocity of electric current, and yet we 
cause not so much sound as the dripping water. Our speed is 
inconceivable. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



260 RENDING THE VAIL. 

No. 28J. (349.) 

Duration of Spiritualism. — Nature's Vast Sweep. — These Voices and 
Writings Utterances of Those the Church has Called Dead. 

1391. ''Spiritualism is everlasting because it ever has 
existed and ever must exist, from the nature and constitution of 
things; or, in other words, by the law of necessity, which is the 
law of God. 

1392. "Nature's vast sweep knows no time — no beginning, 
no end. 

1393. "Its central power is everywhere, its circumference 
nowhere. 

1394. "This [Spiritualism] enhances all of philosophy, all of 
science, and all of knowledge. 

(a) "To the naturalistic student this may seem cold and 
distant, but to the awakened inner spirit of man it is ever warm 
and full of consolation and endless beauty. 

1395. "This [Spiritualism] is naught but the Infinite Divine 
ever proceeding — the supreme laws, the governing elements of 
the universe. 

"These are the utterances of the loved whom the Church has 
called dead. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 29. (371.) 

Oxygen. — Compound Oxygen. — Nitrogen. — Enduring Wealth. 

1396. "Thanks to the growth of intelligence, the exer- 
cise of free thought, and the thirst for knowledge, the darkness 
and thick clouds of ignorance are being dispelled before the pene- 
trating rays of scientific research, and to-day you live under the 
beneficent influence of the highest type of mental enlightenment. 

1397. "The discovery of compound oxygen treatment and 
its advent into the necessities of your modern practice have cre- 
ated a revolution in medical science. 

(a) "Facts which had been ignored or overlooked have been 
demonstrated and established. 

(b) "Ideas which were scouted as imaginary have matured 
into opinions impregnated with realization. 

(c) "This simple compound, a preparation of chemists, has 
usurped a position from which it can never be removed — its 
power is absolute, because natural. When its scepter once is 
wielded, its reign is lasting, peaceable. 

(d) "It will stand all the shocks of earthquake theories; 
and by its very essences is proof against the usual nature of 
failures. 

1398. "Do you comprehend that oxygen is an element, aud 
recognize it as one of the main constituents of the air you breathe? 

1399. "Without oxygen, life in any form could not exist. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 261 

(a) "It of necessity is infinite. 

(b) "Its influence all penetrating. 

(c) "It forms a portion of your very tissues, as it does of 
your nature. 

(d) "Its presence determines the amount of activity in your 
system. 

1400. "Its reservoir in the atmospheric constitution is per- 
fected in union with nitrogen gas. 

(a) "The one without the other would be either too power- 
ful or too mild. 

(b) "Whereas as a compound, or rather mixture, they are so 
evenly proportioned as to enrich vitality, both of mind and body. 
These two substances then form a simple compound of oxygen 
and nitrogen. 

(c) "Nor is this all. The ordinary compound of oxygen and 
nitrogen would not of itself cure disease. It would, under such 
condition, be perfectly inert or useless, except for the benefit 
attainable by changing from one atmospheric district to another. 

(d) "In the natural composition of air these two gases exist 
in the relative quantities of one of oxygen to about four of 
nitrogen. 

1401. "Enduring wealth. My dear brothers, your minds will 
become rich in intelligence of great enobling ideas, comprehen- 
sive of your own nature, and your nerves will trill in union with 
the harmonious symphony of all the magnificent phenomena of 
the universe. 

1402. "Evanescent wealth. A man may have all the riches 
of earth and still be poor in spirit. 

(a) "A poor man in this sense is one who does not know that 
_Jie possesses a spark of Divine Nature within him. He is entirely 
ignorant of his nature. He knows not the design of his existence 
or how to live purely and justly; nor can he perceive or appreciate 
the great changes that take place through death, to a more ex- 
alted life. All his ideas and aspirations are limited to the earth. 
Like one of the lower order of -pursuit and possession.' 

(Signed) "Reed" 

No. 30. (431.) 

Life is the Cause of Organization. — Organism. — Machine that Life Uses 

to Manifest Itself. 

1403. "My experience recognizes the existence of spirit as 
determining life, and makes life the cause instead of the conse- 
quence of organization. 

(a) "This enables you to reconstruct the parallelogram of 
forces, and strikes the balance of power, not between the mechan- 
ical force of the material particles themslves, but between these 
and the conscious power of spirit — the ego. 



262 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1404. 'This is the resultant which apparently constitutes 
mind, viewing the intense and varied molecular action and the 
combustion — the deflagration of each tissue which attends 
the generation of every thought and is necessary to these 
manifestations. 

1405. ' k If you knew how this translation is accomplished, 
you would know exactly how those connections between mind 
and matter are made; but you do not know, and can only rest 
in the knowledge that the brain is the mechanical mechanism 
by which the will of the owner of that apparatus is primarily 
manifested. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 31. (484.) 

Life Consists in Musical Correspondences. — One Quality of Living 
Protoplasm is Adequate to Establish Such Relations. 

1406. "Not only is this among the possibilities of living pro- 
toplasm to establish this connection, but that among the quali- 
ties of that pregnant substance, or of some of the material deriv- 
atives, is one adequate to the establishment of the required 
relation. 

1407. "Chemistry has shown the composition of the dead 
substance — the number and proportion of the elements compos- 
ing your bodies — even the mode in which its molecular units are, 
or may reasonably be inferred to be, compounded. 

(a) "The extreme instability of the resulting combination 
and the extraordinary activities acquired are well known. 

"This is life eternal and the organism which attains to this, 
in the nature of things, must live forever. Here is eternal exist- 
ence and eternal knowledge. 

1408. "All life consists essentially in correspondence with 
music. You should look for a future development in harmony 
with current developments — the extension of the last and high- 
est correspondence in a new and higher direction in the world 
with which evolution culminates in an organism containing life 
eternal and an organism which attains to this, in the nature of 
things, must live forever, and herein is eternal existence and eter- 
nal self-conscious knowledge. (1738.) 

(Signed) "Reed." 
Kate, 477 words per minute. 

No. 32. (470.) 

Three Laics Control Individuals. — At the Same Time They Are More 
or Less Governed oy Influences of Spirit Life. 

1409. "Individuals are always under the control of three 
laws, which laws operate with an undeviating precision in his 
physical system, in his social relations, and in his moral and 



RENDING THE TAIL. 263 

spiritual relations to the world without and the world within 
you. 

1410. "These laws require individuals to be harmonious in 
their physical organization, their social systems, and in their 
minds. 

1111. "Inasmuch as you are governed by us and are only 
happy and harmonious when obeying the principles laid down by 
us, then your entire existence is plain, and that any deviation 
from us would result in discord and unhappiness to an extent 
always proportionate to the extent of the deviation; and let it be 
fully and practically impressed upon your minds that there is 
no possible way of escaping these laws. 

1412. "Some people's hearts are so steeped in false religions 
that their desires are wholly of the earth, and are entire infidels 
to themselves and to their convictions. 

1413. "Many of them profess to believe in God and that they 
have a soul that lives after the death of the body, and yet in their 
self-naked infidelity their hearts are so hardened that when the 
very evidence of the truth of their own pretensions is placed be- 
fore them, they deny it. How can we prove ourselves to such as 
these? When such people are born into the spirit world, their 
birth is so premature that they know not themselves who they 
are; but, being then in the light, they soon begin to learn the 
causes that lead on toward the throne. 

1414. "When you speak of the intellectual world, you allude 
to the wisdom of man; but when ice speak of the intellectual 
world, we allude to that above you from which you derive your 
intelligence. 

1415. "When you speak of carbon, you allude to coal or 
diamond; but when we speak of carbon, we mean the elements 
beyond your research out of which your gross material is made. 

1416. "Our field of research is more extensive, for we ac- 
quire knowledge of earthly things as you do, and we also proceed 
far with obtaining knowledge of the elements in the spirit world. 

1417. "Beyond our first spheres in spirit life there is still 
higher sublimated existence: so the more knowledge you acquire 
on earth pertaining to these laws the faster will be your progress 
in the spirit world. 

(a) "The scientific basis of Spiritualism is suggestive to all. 

1418. "The author of this announces that the object of 
these investigations is to show that the spirit world has made 
known the highest moral and spiritual life of man. You will 
find that these conceptions are broad and loftv. 

(Signed) "Reed." 
Rate. 405 words written in exactly 1 minute of time. The 
reader should see ante par. 470. 



264 RENDING THE TAIL. 

No. 33. (499.) 

Transition. — Change. — Death. 

1419. (a) "Death is a very serious kind of change, varying 
very much in degree. 

(b) "To some earthly lives it is scarcely any other than a 
physical change: the continuance and identity in all respects of 
the spiritual being are clear and certain. 

(c) u To others the physical change is the least part. 
Through painful vicissitudes, continuing long after the spiritual 
being is modified, sometimes with a tardiness which makes the 
change almost unbearable. But generally with more rapidity. 

(d) "What, then, is death? Is it possible to define it and 
embody its essential meaning in a single proposition? 

(e) "You must first set yourselves to grasp the leading char- 
acteristics which distinguish living things. 

(f) "The living organism is distinguished from the not liv- 
ing bv the performance of certain functions. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 34. (504.) 

Each Person Has His Special Sphere. — The Varied Adaptability of 

Individuals. 

1420. "There are, indeed, powers of a high order. The pleas- 
ures arising from the conception of these enter very largely into 
your admiration of all natural arrangement, architectural decora- 
tion, etc. 

(a) "The delight with which you look upon us depends in 
no small degree on the perception of time employed and labor ex- 
pended in these productions, but is an ennobling pleasure even in 
its lowest phase; and even the pleasure felt by us who praise the 
pleasure of the work. 

(b) "So far the nature and effects of this power can be ad- 
mitted by all. Consequently, wherever power of any kind or 
degree has been exerted, the work and evidence of it are stamped 
upon the subject. It is impossible that it should be lost or wasted, 
or without record; and, therefore, it has been the subject of a 
great power bearing about with it the image of that which ere 
ated it. 

1421. "Each one of you has a special sphere of use in the 
world of mortal, and also in the world of spirit. 

(a) "This fact being universally recognized would lead each 
to seek his own especial place while in the body, and this cannot 
be done without the aid of the spirit world, unless these inherent 
tendencies are so strong as to lead the nature entirely in a cer- 
tain direction, and then very often opposing circumstances pre- 
vent the entrance to this spirit sphere. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 265 

(b) "By this science it will be seen that some persons be- 
long, by nature, to the intellectual plane, and deal entirely with 
things in an external plane. 

(c) "Others live in the interior, and seek to penetrate the 
world, and learn from Nature her secrets. 

(d) "Some are fitted for general business and large enter- 
prises. 

(e) "Others for transactions on a smaller and more varied 
scale. 

(/) "Some are born to rule or ruin; some to sing. 

(g) "Then, again, think of the family jars which might be 
avoided, and the sweet love and sympathy which might take 
their place, if each understood the other scientifically and could 
say, when any misunderstanding arises: 'He or she is the sensi- 
tive, and yet independent of Nature.' 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 35. (512.) 

The Spirit World Controls the -Earth. 

1422. "This is progress and development of the human race 
— the law of the universe. 

(a) ~The spirit world contr.aLs^.the_earth. It puts forth its 
unseen hand and drags from the throne the potentate who would 
crush the people and take from them their hard-earned pittance, 
or push them back into dark corners of superstition and 
ignorance. 

(b) "It is this occult force that overturns nations. 

(c) "The step of Justice seems slow, friends, in reaching 
some nations, while it overtakes others with rapidity; and, wher- 
ever there is oppression and an attempt to stay the hand of Prog- 
ress and enforce ignorance, there Justice appears in the form of 

.revolution and war — that is foreordained; then the oppressors 
feel the influence of the spirit world which regulates and governs 
all things and leads you through darkness to a higher form of 
intelligence. 

1423. "The surprise which awaits you in this remarkable 
world will be so overwhelming that you scarcely will be able to 
do justice, and can only hope to give a faint idea of the happiness 
you will have realized in awakening to consciousness. 

(a) "Then what is more beautiful, more just, more rational, 
more in accordance with Nature, and more beneficial to mankind 
than these teachings laid down by us? 

(b "There is nothing to be dispensed with, and nothing lack- 
ing. Every form of duly which is capable and necessary to render 
people happy is embraced in this doctrine. 

(c) "We not only give to the people the most complete code 
of morals, but we give most sublime and exalted ideas of man's 



266 RENDING THE VAIL. 

inward self. We give glimpses of the nature of the soul and of 
the great universe — not such as is taught in theology "under the 
name of God. 

1424. "We teach that the spirit of man is a refined material 
element, an ever-active essence of immortal existence, and~fhat it 
is an emanation from the active principle of life. 

14257 "That in its original nature it is pure, and by its alli- 
ance with grosser matter in the form of organized beings it is 
capable of continuing pure and becoming improved, if you live 
in conformity with the principles of Nature. My friends, though 
dead in the body, yet alive in the spirit. 

1426. "Dark, cheerless, and more than brutish idea to think 
that man ceases at death. 

(a) "To entertain this idea is to rob man of all his noble as- 
pirations in life and make his end one of misery and regret. 

(b) "Why should man aspire to be good and noble, if there 
be no other life after he has passed through the scenes of strife 
in your world? 

(c) "Then realize all the refined conceptions of beauty, 
grandeur, magnificence, fondness, love, and friendship — eternal 
truth and justice. 

(d) "Why should you have no other world than yours to 
develop the refined germs within you? 

{e) "The idea that man ceases at death is a contradiction in 
itself. 

(Signed) "Reed:' 

This has 489 words, written in 43 seconds; the astounding 
rate of 680 words per minute. 

No. 36. (519.) 

The Inadequacy of Earth Life to Satisfy Soul Capabilities Evidence 
That Its Career Must Continue. 

1427. "For what is the living man but a portion of the es- 
sence. If so, how can that portion be destroyed? Does not every- 
thing in the universe have a befitting place for the soul of man? 

(a) "It cannot be in your world: for there man's soul is im- 
prisoned, restricted, and thwarted in its aspirations and thirst- 
ings after righteousness. 

(c) "Where, then, can his soul bask in the sunlight of un- 
restricted freedom, unthwarted in its various tendencies, if there 
be no other realm but the one you live in? 

(d) "Yes, friends, there is another life after yours on earth. 

(e) "The Divine Soul within you scatters abroad its seeds 
of love, truth, justice, charity, and sympathy in the world; but 
you find it difficult to cultivate them and bring them to maturity. 

1428. "You pass the shades of death, which is only a transi- 
tion from your world to another of greater beauty and perfection; 



BENDING THE VAIL. 267 

where all your pure and noble affections and desires will become 
realized and perfected. 

1429. "Your virtues and noble principles will buoy you up 
beyond the earth's attraction, so that you will not be held to it 
longer than you choose. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 37. (538.) 

What Little was Formerly Known of Psychics was Kept from the People 
or Presented to Them as Magic. 

1430. "The physical or scientific knowledge is limited these 
days, yet you know as much as any who made pretensions to 
learning, and more than the generality of men. 

1431. "There was very little scientific investigation — only 
blow and guessing, so very little was known of these phenomena 
of Nature, except as acquired through common experiences, and 
the little was a secret from the people. 

1432. "Instead of being used to their enlightenment, the 
secrets of Nature were taught in the colleges under the awful 
name of magic and as something emanating from supernatural 
sources. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 38. (556.) 

Churches Discarding the Eternal Punishment Dogma. — Schools Im- 
prove as Corporal Punishment Ceases. 

1433 "How cheering it is to see how rapidly the churches 
are discarding the old doctrine of eternal punishment. They now 
have but very little in that monstrous dogma; and clergymen, in 
the orthodox churches, are daring to come out more and more 
openly in favor of this spiritual doctrine. 

1*434. "Just think of it, friends! Many cases of suicide, in- 
sanity, and death are caused through its influence on people's 
minds. Yet the difference of belief with a half or even a quarter 
of a century is immense. 

(a) "The long, sour, and sanctimonious faces are disappear- 
ing, and more joyous expressions are taking their places. 

1435. "Men who worship a stern God are themselves stern;- 
and the fact that past generations have produced so many fierce, 
unloving parents is certainly one cause, even yet, why the world 
is so afflicted with hard, selfish hearts, though better than it has 
ever been in the past. 

143G. "I have had the privilege of visiting several thousand 
schools of learning in all parts of your world, and I can truly say 
that of late years, since corporal and brute-force punishment have 
been mainly abolished, the self-respect and good deportment and 
studious habits of many pupils have vastly improved; while 



268 RENDIXG THE TAIL. 

school life once was such gloomy experience to me as it was to 
all young, it is becoming more and more delightful. 

1437. "How absurd, then, to suppose you must still proclaim 
dogmas of terror in order to frighten people into doing well. 
Fear is the basest and meanest of motives to appeal to — fit only 
for cowards and absolute barbarians. 

14.38. "It is shown that even your red men can be ruled bet- 
ter by love combined with justice than by artillery. 

(Signed) "Dr. W. H. Reed. 



" 



No. 39. (580.) 

The Ministry Not All of True Manhood Working for Souls 1 Salvation, 
out Alone for Self. 

1439. "When the clergy sit under the porches of your tem- 
ples, they spread abroad 'their phylacteries' that the people may 
notice them; and, with all the formula of pious mummery, they 
perform the customary evolutions and prayers, when, at the same 
time, neither sanctity nor pity dwells in their hearts. Why do 
you call on them to testify to the truth of their speech, such as 
you feel sure have but little truth within them, but only desire 
to deceive the people? And this deception in order to bind the 
people with heavy burdens of taxes, of offerings and presents; so 
that such hypocrites and blind guides may live a life of laziness 
while gorging upon the good things of the land which they rob 
even from the poor and needy. Oh, such base hypocrites! un- 
worthy the name of men : for true manhood is not in their nature. 
Yet they expect the highest seats in the chambers when they go 
to feast, and to be treated with all possible marks of reverence 
by word and action. 

"They are not content to receive the ordinary salutations of 
men, but the form of the saluting party must bend so low that 
the fringe of their garments touches the ground. 

"In addressing such the speaker is not permitted to use the 
proper name, but must, in the most reverent manner, say 'our 
worthy lord,' or some equivalent expression; but it is my serious 
judgment that, in some cases, a mad dog would be more worthy 
the greeting, 'my lords or right reverend sirs.' In many cases, in 
many lands, they take from the people even their lands and houses 
and the finest and fattest of the flocks. In tribute must go cattle, 
harvest, wine, oil, gold, and silver. 

1440. "And what benefit to the people all this plunder? In 
heathen, pagan, or Christian land it is only for the benefit of the 
same hypocrite claiming to be able, in some sort of vicegerency, 
to open or close Elysian gates, by intercession. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 2t) ( J 

No. 40. (594.) 

The Designing Methods Used to Keep the People Ignorant. 

1441. "And the benefit the people receive in exchange for 
so much wealth is a long, sanctimonious prayer, a blessing ejac- 
ulated with a pious ruffle, the singing of an old song, and a little 
discordant music. 

1442. "By a system of barbarous superstition, a code of 
crude laws, and the enforcement of tyrannical customs, they 
prevent their people from becoming enlightened, and thus you are 
shut out from the knowledge of true light of Spiritualism. They 
are so contracted that they cannot receive a single truth that we 
state and demonstrate. Yet all their expansibility is so immense 
that they would take as true those false teachings, their absurd 
and ridiculous statements, constituting their systems of super 
stition which their temples embrace. 

1443. "The time is not far distant, friends, when those vast 
temples with all their corruption shall tumble to pieces. Then 
the masks of your priests shall be torn from them and they will 
be exposed in all their follies and corruptions. 

1444. "We wish to free the minds of men and women from 
these phantoms, the demons, and all other evils which are engen- 
dered by ignorance and superstition, the enemies of man's immor- 
tal soul, through which they have so long wandered in error and 
confusion; to eradicate from the fields of our friends all the tares 
and rank weeds of man's hatred, malice, revenge, and to try to 
cultivate the heart and sow therein the seeds of love, truth, and 
justice toward one another. These are our designs in spirit: live 
a life of peace, harmony, and justice, and attend to the cultiva- 
tion of that immortal principle within you. Then you will pro 
gress in all that is good from day to day and age to age, until 
you arrive at that degree of perfection when you will know what 
is true government and how to govern yourselves. 

(Signed) "Reed." 
Time, 36 seconds; 313 words; rate, .520 words per minute. 
(Review par. 594 and context.) 

No. 41. (628.) 

The Jehovah an Imaginary Figment. — Gods of All Ages hut Conceptions 
of the People of the Time and Place. 

1445. "The God who has been taught for the world to be- 
lieve in under the name of Jehovah is nothing more than a fig- 
ment of the human imagination, bearing a correspondence in na- 
ture and attributes to the traits of character and peculiarities 
of man. 

1446. "Gods, as worshiped by mankind in every country and 
in all ages, have been represented in their nature according to 
the gross conceptions of the people of the time and place. 



270 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1447. "They are the ideal images designed by certain cun- 
ning men to represent and account for the various mysterious phe- 
nomena of Nature, of which man has been ignorant. 

1448. ''When you gaze upon the starry firmament with all 
its glittering lights, and endeavor to imagine what they are, you 
find your mind a blank; you seem to be an insignificant speck, 
not included in any of the great systems of greatness and 
grandeur. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 42. (662.) 

God. — The Church. — The Devil. — Green Pastures, but the ]Yolf Is There. 

1449. "My friends, a great deal of time is spent in telling 
that angry God how good he is to them and in uttering praise to 
him. 

(a) "A great deal of it is spent in telling how mean they have 
been. 

(b) "They are much like a flock of sheep which have got over 
the fence where the grass is higher and greener and the water 
better. 

(c) "You ask God to save you from the devil: for, like a 
hungry wolf, he is waiting for a fresh lamb. 

1450. "You are then taught that all human suffering, even 
death, came into the world simply because the first man and 
the first woman ate apples which grew in the orchard where God 
put them, which your (rod said was unhealthy food and man must 
not eat. 

1451. "But the devil said it was splendid fruit, the very best 
tfor man in all the garden. 

1452. "So you see, friends, that God lied and the devil told 
the truth, for the fruit was good. 

1453. "But God wished to deceive you even in that direc- 
tion ; but he failed in that, like he has in many other instances. 

"Can you worship a God of that nature? I ask any rational 
person. 

1454. "You see, if it had not been for the devil, as they call 
him, or it, you would not dare to eat any fruit to-day. So, I 

think of the two, their devil is the better one: for he did not wish 
to deceive his fellow-men. 

1455. "This may be strong, but it is the literal truth of their 
teachings. 

1456. "I write this, this evening, for the purpose of demon- 
strating the idiocy of such teachings as they claim to find in the 
l)Ook they call the word of God. 

1457. "And the purpose of such teachers as Talmage is to 
<keep men and women, and children who are growing to be men 



[ 



RENDING THE VAIL. 271 

and women, as useful subjects for the purpose of tribute, as tools 
for cunning and designing religious teachers. 

(Signed) "Beed." 

No. 43. (691-692 a.) 

The Priesthood Alarmed at the Growth of Spiritualism. 

1458. "The great body of the priesthood is at last aroused 
and up in arms against you, and why? They perceive that a 
light has been shed all over your earth by which the people have 
been enabled to see the gross ignorance and mental slavery to 
which they have been brought by mercenary priestly rulers. 

(a) "Thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands of people \ 
have already shaken off the trammels of priestly superstition. 

(&) "Thousands of men, born aspirants to this truth, hail 
the prospect of a general emancipation from the mental slavery 
imposed upon the people by their barbarous ancestors. 

(c) "The minds of the people have been aroused. Their 
united voices begin to murmur like the low rumble of the distant 
thunder which announces that a storm is nigh. 

(d) "The pinnacles of their mighty temple begin to totter 
and the priesthood to^tremble: for the totterings are signs the for- 
mer will fall with a mighty crash and bury them in its ruins. 

(e) "This, then, is the cause why your enemies are up and 
opposed to us, endeavoring to thwart our proceedings. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 44. (708.) 

There will Be No Good Government Except by a People Having Innate 
Goodness upon Which to Found It. 

1459. "What are the leading principles of the people? 
Firstly, the belief of a powerful, inconsistent, vindictive, jeal- 
ous, cruel, and revengeful God, possessing all the traits and 
character of the human race. According to the history given of 
him, each people worship him as a being after their own nature. 
That kind of a God is an impossibility in nature. 

1460. "Another principle of their belief is that God made 
the world and all other things in six days, by his word, for man's 
especial benefit. He wished man to progress and be happy; so 
he made a tree of evil to tempt man to do wrong. 

"Man and woman both do wrong. Then again God curses 
them and all their posterity for doing what he made them to do. 

1461. "They try to destroy your good cause and work by 
aiming their guns of enmity at you, bent on your destruction; and 
should they gain that point, they will extend their persecutions 
to all of you. You must not quail at any dangers that may come 
from the commencement of their battles, but resolve to devote 
all your energies, time, and worldly goods to this cause. 



272 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1462. "My brothers, the only fear we have is for you and 
the good cause of your labors. Should your enemies prevail, 
they will assuredly extend the same persecution to you and per- 
haps to the many thousands who have shaken oft' their priestly 
yokes. 

1463. "Their minds are not constituted of the right elements 
out of which to construct a good government. 

1464. "They never have had a good government; and as 
long as they are of the same nature they never will have one of 
their own. 

1465. "A good government must be founded upon good 
and just principles. These principles must be established facts, 
derived from a knowledge of man's true nature and the nature of 
things by which he is surrounded. 

1466. "When the mind of a people consists of principles of 
Nature, then they are capable of constructing and establishing 
good government of such principles, and then the government 
established will be more or less perfect. 

1467. "Now, if you examine the minds of the people, gen- 
erally, you will find there is not an established principle that 
has received its origin in an established fact which is derived 
from a knowledge of themselves or of anything around them. 

"What materials are these ideas which constitute the mind 
of the people? Are they philosophical facts and conceptions 
founded upon truths? Not a bit. 

1468. "Their ideas consist of nothing but erroneous con- 
ceptions, absurd fables, odious lies, grand misconceptions, base 
prejudices, and craggy hallucinations. 

(Signed) "Reed." 
Time, 50 seconds ; 442 words ; nearly 9 words per second. 

No. 45. (730.) 

Earth Life out the Lower Realm of the Spiritual. — Sunlight and Heat 
Not from Direct Rays of Sun. 

1469. "This shows the absurdity of the term 'supernatural,' 
as constantly used by the ignorant world: for celestial realms 
themselves are but the sublime and more exquisite side of na- 
ture; while the coarser side of nature, which you more commonly 
term material, is but the lower realm of spiritual life. Man while 
yet in the body — the earthly house — is a spiritual being as well 
as when out of that body in one more refined. And many spirits 
out of the earthly body are so weighed down with worldly ele- 
ments that they cannot rise into the more exquisite realms that 
exist above your atmosphere. 

1470. "It shows the stupidity of scientific men to call this 
the realm of supernatural with which science has no concern. 

1471. "Nevertheless this is the most magnificent depart- 
ment of science ever opened up to man or angel. This contains 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 273 

the basic principles of the true knowledge of force, revealing the 
philosophy of life and the intensity of the human soul. 

1472. "I wish to say that the sunlight does not come from 
the direct solar rays themselves, but from their impact and chem- 
ical action upon earthly substances. 

1473. "These actions warm your atmosphere near the sur- 
face; and, by connection, to a considerable distance above, as 
your scientists well know. 

1474. "The earthly heat is caused by the coarser portion of 
the solar ether coming in contact with the coarser atoms of 
earthlv substances which correspond to them. 

(Signed) "Bied." 

No. 46. (737-738.) 

Hypnotics. — Immensity of the Stellar Universe and Governing and 
Creative Energy Therein. . 

1475. "Friends, there is a principle or power that pervades 
all animated nature: by some termed life; by others, spirit. 

"This power is the same in all beings, but more expressive in 
man; though in some it is weak, in others it is very strong. Some 
men, who possess this power in an extraordinary degree, are capa- 
ble of acting upon their weaker fellows, producing good or evil 
effects as their various dispositions direct them to act, and the 
nature of the subject will permit. But when this power is exam- 
ined with benevolent design, much good can be produced to your 
fellow-man. 

1476. "We have worlds innumerable. Our worlds are sim- 
ilar to yours; but so numerous that it would be as easy for man 
to count the particles in the atmosphere as to number the worlds 
that exist throughout this vast extent of universal space. 

"To your eye these starry luminaries are invisible, and yet 
the smallest of them is nearly as large as the earth you inhabit; 
while the greater portion are hundreds and even thousands of 
times greater in bulk. 

"Of such vast extent is the distance of the nearest star that 
a bird of swiftest wing could not fly the same extent of space in 
many thousands of years. 

1477. "Within these central spots exist that Great Power, 
the Great Soul and Mind which is the source of all life that exists 
throughout the boundless expanse of matter and of space, the 
great universe of life, of light and love and motion, whom all 
mankind feel and acknowledge. 

1478. "The vast material elements wrestled and struggled 
with the infused life of Divine Love and burst throughout the 
vast extent of space, forming themselves into worlds and satel- 
lites, whose motions gradually submitted to law, and at lensrth 
assumed the magnificent display of starry constellations you now 
behold, comprising your vast expanse of universe. 



274 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1479. "This ascending and progressive work of organization 
is by successive spheres of development, and all bound together 
by the mutual bonds of interest and dependence; the higher be- 
ing developed from the energy of all of the lower, until the pow- 
ers of each sphere are developed to its ultimate design. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 47, (741.) 

It Requires a Sufficient Degree of Development for a Man to Receive 
and Perceive tlie Spiritual. 

1480. "When the organization of man becomes sufficiently 
developed and matured, it then becomes qualified to receive the 
impress of spirits upon the tablet of the interior life, by which 
you become developed into spiritual intelligence, which consti- 
tutes an offspring of the impressions of the divine essence of love. 

"It is by the development of this interior spiritual intel- 
ligence. 

1481. "When earth's children can be no longer sustained 
upon earth, we receive yon within our mansions under our own 
especial care, where the elements of your spiritual being become 
developed into a still higher state of perfection. 

(Signed) "Reedy 

No. 48. (752, 754-759.) 

The Law of Solicitude Governs and Controls All Things. 

1482. "By this Divine Love you have the impulse to awaken 
and form all passive matter into the beauteous universe, as you 
behold it. By the Infinite Wisdom you may be enabled to plan 
and design and put into execution. 

1483. "By this law of solicitude w T e control and continue 
to govern everything in order. Whence the hope that this mag- 
nificent work will ultimately rebound to your glory and sat- 
isfaction. 

1484. "This penetrates through all material things, thrilling 
throughout the being, and swelling the bosom of Nature. 

1485. "The most minute atoms are brought into alliance by 
this divine sympathy, and every germ of the vegetable world 
that bursts into life, expanding in beauty, kissed by the beams 
of light and nursed by the honey dews of Nature, is conceived in 
love by these divine essences. 

1486. "Every creeping thing — fly or insect — reproduces its 
kind from the same power. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 49. (769.) 

The Conjugal Relation. 

1487. "Your passion of the conjugal love of man and wo- 
man, coupled with pure and holy desires, develops all the divine 



RENDING THE VAIL. 275 

affections, which are necessary to man's happiness on your earth; 
and, when it is commingled with noble aspirations and exalted 
ideas, as proving all that is beautiful, lovely, good, and magnan- 
imous, then it will be open to you in the realms of spirit after 
you have passed the terrestrial career. Then you enter the pres- 
ence of the Divine Spirit from whence you came. Pardon me,, 
friends, if I do or say anything unseemly — not in accordance with 
your views on this subject. The subtle powers of your nature 
are not beyond our control. Eagerly have you listened to the 
wisdom of words imparted to you by us spirits. Clearly and 
justly do I hope you may appreciate these explanations of this 
divine philosophy. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 50. 

Sermons All over the World Formed after the Same Plan and Design: 
To Excite Fear. — This Feeds the Hospitals for the Insane. 

1488. "All over your world the sermons are, with rarely 
an exception, formed after the same plan and direction, and to 
the same end : to excite fear. 

1489. "One boast of the clergy is that their special mission 
is to thunder out the wrath and curses of the Lord. They also de- 
clare that all mankind, a very small portion only excepted, are 
doomed to eternal misery. They delight in telling their hearers 
that they would be roasted on great fires and hung up by their 
tongues and lashed with scorpions. They stand and see their 
companions writhing and hopeless around them. No wonder 
that, with these ideas before the people, their reason should give- 
way, and that a religious mania should set in under such influ- 
ences, and that some, in blank despair, put an end to their lives. 

1490. "He whom the people recognize as the 'Author of all 
good' is, in the eyes of those who are devoted $pitfi&ttaiis*s, ( a cruel 
and vindictive being, moved with anger like themselves, if they 
will look into their own hearts, they will find a picture of their 
God. According to them, he was a God of terror. 

"They ascribe to him revenge, canning, and a constant de- 
sire to inflict pain. 

(Signed) "Reed." 
(Continued.) 

No. 51. (781.) 

The Creed Is: Though Predestined to Eternal Ruin, None Are Beyond 
Chance of Redemption. 

1491. '"And while they declare that nearly all mankind are 
never beyond the chance of redemption, though predestined to 
eternal ruin, under the influence of such a horrible creed, and 
from the unbounded sway exercised by your clergy, who advo- 



276 RENDING THE VAIL. 

cate it, the minds of the people are thrown into such a state that 
some of the noblest feelings of which your nature is capable — the 
feelings of hope, love, and gratitude — are set aside, and replaced 
by the dictates of a servile, ignominious fear. 

1492. "The clergy try to teach you, according to their code, 
that all the natural affections, all the social pleasures, all amuse- 
ments, and all the joyous instincts of the human heart are sinful 
and must be rooted out. 

"All pleasures, therefore, however right in themselves, how- 
ever lawful they might appear, must be carefully avoided. 

"Cheerfulness, especially when it rouses to laughter, must 
be guarded against; and you should choose for your associates 
grave and sorrowful men and women, who are not likely to in- 
dulge in so foolish a practice. 

1493. "Smiling, provided it stopped short of laughter, might 
occasionally be allowed; still, being a carnal pastime, it is a sin 
to smile. Even on week days, those who are most imbued with 
religious principles hardly ever smile, but sigh, groan, and weep. 
Such is the life of some Christians. 

1494. "It would take a whole library of volumes to paint 
the shadows and dark deeds that have been performed by the 
sanction of what is called the Christian religion. 

"Why should you be anxious to use the name Christianity 
in your organizations? 

1495. "No, friends! You want something broader and more 
divine than the teachings of the best man that ever lived, which 
does not stop at the name Christ Jesus; but aspire after the In- 
finite Perfection as revealed to us both in the earthly and 
spiritual. 

1496. "In considering the study of physical phenomena, not 
merely in its bearings on the material plane of life, but in its 
general influence on the intellectual advancement of mankind, 
you find its noblest and most important result to be a knowledge 
of the chain of connections by which all natural forces are linked 
together and made mutually dependent upon each other, and 
this ennobles your enjovments. 

(Signed) "Dr. Reed" 

No. 52. (789.) 

With the Spirit and Substrata through Which It Passed There is Eternal 
Correspondence, and This Bridges the Grave. 

1497. "With the decay and dissolution of the material sub- 
stratum through which it has acquired a conscious existence and 
become a person, and upon which it is dependent, the spirit exists; 
and there is a correspondence which will never cease. 

"These powers are bridging the grave, and have been tried. 
(a) "This life is known, by former experiment, to have sur- 
vived the change in the physical state of existence. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 277 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Spiritualism. 

(6) "Not tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, 
or nakedness, or peril, or sword! 

(c) "Shall these changes in the physical state threaten 
death to the natural man and destroy the spiritual? No. In all 
these things we are more than conquerors. 

1498. "The effort to detect the living spirit must be at least 
as idle as the attempt to subject protoplasm to microscopic exam- 
ination in hope of discovering life. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 5.3. (793.) 

The Intellectual Being More and More Developed into tlie Spiritual. — 
Unity of the Spiritual and Moral Universe. 

1499. "The spiritual and moral universe has been consti- 
tuted with an equal perfection of character as an infinite unity 
of law which runs through every department of being; besides 
which, you cannot logically deny this fact if you admit that all 
has emanated from the same perfect source. To this I will say 
that man and nature are developing according to a perfect law, 
and that the universe is growing up into grander and more re- 
fined conditions with all the rapidity that is possible with that 
beautiful law of progression, and that this progression is, on the 
whole, upward, toward refinement, and not downward, toward 
ruin and chaos. 

{a) "As you have already seen, death and decay are but 
temporary changes preparatory to a higher life where there are 
grander types of beauty. 

(b) "The intellectual nature is beginning to be more and 
more developed into the moral and spiritual, which is the highest 
of all. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 51. (801.) 

Spirit Spheres. — Spirit Realms. 

1500. "Spirit intelligences constantly inform you that there 
are many spheres of being, one above the other. That one sphere 
is more immediately guided by that which is next above it, the 
condition being more nearly like its own; while that, again, is 
directed by those who have advanced into the sphere still higher; 
and so on until a perfect grade of being is reached. 

1501. "Your invisible guides, who led you into so many 
pathways of discovery, which experience lias shown to be cor- 
rect, deem it proper to have certain times for sending forth their 
especial aspirations, if not formal words, to the world. 

1502. "But above these, inspiring and sustaining the whole 
visible machinery of the world, are the spirit realms which sur- 
round the earth. 



278 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1503. "To you, friends, 1 will say : All those who have com- 
menced with this higher life are well aware that the greatest in- 
ventions, discoveries, etc., etc., are impressed upon the human 
minds by their perception of spirits. So, in most cases, you re- 
ceive your inspirations from the realms still higher. We give 
this to show the power of spirit over mortal. 

(Signed) "Reed." 
Time, 20 seconds ; 190 words ; rate, 84- words per second. 

No. 55. (808.) 

Death. — The Christian Materialist. — Death's Greatest Element of 

Gloom. 

1504. "To suffer death is but the law of Nature, and it is 
a great comfort that it can be but once. In the very convulsions 
of it you have the consolation : that your pain is near an end, and 
that it frees you from all the miseries of life. What it is you know 
not; and it is very rash to condemn what you do not understand. 

1505. "But this you shall know: that you shall pass out of 
that life into a better life, where you shall live with conscious 
entity and splendor in divine mansions, else return to your first 
principles, free from the sense of any inconveniences. 

1506. "The thought of being nothing after death is a bur-- 
den insuperable by a good man, the desire being to live on and 
on in an ever-expanding forever. In realization of such desire 
he sees life is something useful, grand, and the sphere of being 
is the sublimest operation that he can conceive. 

1507. "The greatest element of gloom with which death has 
been surrounded comes from the fearful teachings of the Church. 
They pass their sentence upon all except a favored few, who are 
soundly converted to their Christian dogma. 

1508. "Many Christian persons think that the soul lies dor- 
mant with the body, and that, without the body resuscitate, both 
are forever dormant. They have a very vague conception of 
where the spirit shall remain until Gabriel blows his trumpet. 
They enact some strong motive for reforming the sinners. If they 
can only get them into the Church, they think it will save them, 
and that they have done their bidding. 

1509. "But that is not the case. They have seldom, if ever, 
reformed anyone; but they have added the darkness to the grave 
and to the terrors of hell. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 50. (812.) 

The Spread of Spiritualism. 

1510. "To-day Spiritualism is in all parts of the world. 
Those who oppose this subject, as a general thing, are those who 
know the least concerning it, and, having never investigated this 



RENDING THE VAIL. 279 

personally, their arguments are valueless compared with the ar- 
gument of those who know these facts from personal investiga- 
tion and knowledge. 

loll. "Some look upon the subject as evil; others, as good. 
But, notwithstanding all obstructions and obstacles that are 
brought to bear against Spiritualism, they have been the means 
of bringing it before the world as a demonstrated fact, and the 
phenomena are receiving the attention of all classes of society and 
of the most advanced minds in the world. 

(a) "There are but few persons, at the present time, that 
think or act for themselves, but what acknowledge the existence 
of phenomena. 

(b) "They differ in their judgment as to the causes which 
produce these manifestations. 

(c) Some say, 'It is electrical'; others say, 'It is the devil.' 

1512. "The limitation of Spiritualism embraces all that 
exists. Its scope is broad enough to embrace all mankind. It is 
as high as the universe and all contained therein. It is connected 
with and cannot be separated from all that exists. Yes, and it 
solves the mysteries connected with a future life, that have so 
long been a dark abyss. 

1513. "Spiritualism is natural and should not be questioned 
any more than you should question the law that governs and con- 
trols the planetary systems. You should accept all things per- 
taining to Nature. Try to make them practical and useful. Yon 
cannot change the law of Nature if you desire, for it is beyond 
the control of finite mind. You know that you exist and that it 
was not your wish or desire that caused your existence. You are 
just as you are, and you cannot help it. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 57. (824.) 

Mails Work Not Done at Death, out Just Commenced. 

1514. "We are laborers in the cause of truth to break the 
bonds of old tradition that have held your world so long. 

1515. "It is often said, when a man dies: 'His work is done!' 
That is not true — at least, not in my case: for I intend to fight 
for the good cause till there is not a slave of any kind, moral or 
physical, upon your earth. 

1516. "People are indifferent because they cannot see what 
we see. They do not realize their own conditions. There will be 
a great stirring up of dry bones soon. Those who labor to ob- 
tain knowledge will, individually, draw aid from the spirit world, 
which the indifferent cannot attain. 

1517. "Your schools of philosophy should tea h individuals 
to labor after spiritual knowledge which not only comes through 
a passion state of reciprocity, but through the brain and study 



280 RENDING TUB TAIL. 

of the best thought of the ages. So those who wish to enter a 
happy state here should develop their mental and spiritual 
powers. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 58. (855.) 

Some of the Good of Spiritualism. 

1517J. ''What good has Spiritualism done? Many times 
has this question been asked: 'How does this positive knowl- 
edge of continuous life, and of the presence and communicating 
power of your departed friends, affect the conduct and profit 
of one's life?' 

"This is convincing completeness. 

1518. "Spiritualism has, indeed, made the circuit of the 
world in which you live and move; and, also, the spirit in these 
forty years past with power upon the human hearts has impressed 
itself as the great final realization so long waited for. 

1510. "It has aroused the curiosity and excited the emotions 
of men, and it has directed their thoughts into new channels and 
lifted their lives up to a higher level, and inspired their mental 
conduct with aspirations and purposes. 

1520. "Experience, friends, is the best witness that can be 
summoned to give testimony in this truth. 

"It may be well to repeat the statements which are becoming- 
familiar, especially this spread of knowledge and this grand rev- 
elation from the world of spirit. 

"The vital thing, however, is to know of a certainty what 
effect it has had and continues to have upon those who have ac- 
cepted this knowledge with such joyful enthusiasm. 

"This can be shown to be performing active and lasting work 
in the w T orld. It has come to stay. 

"It is necessary for the believer to look within to search the 
motives of his conduct and life, if this w r ondrous revelation has 
done for him the good which is contained in its original promises. 

(Signed) "Reed." 
(Continued.) 

No. 59. (878-879/) 

True Charity. 

1521. "To the world at large charity is symbolical of alms- 
giving. 

"Why should the word that has such a subtle power to soothe 
wounded hearts be so degraded? 

1522. "We are taught in spirit life that charity means to 
give, to those who need it, our best and purest thoughts. And, 
even on the earth plane, the giving of material things is only me- 
chanical, and not spiritual. How many of you, w T hen you give to 



RENDING THE VAIL. 281 

a down-trodden soul, give your best thoughts as well as your ma- 
terial aid? 

1523. "True, your material assistance is very essential, but 
should only be the stepping-stone to something higher. A char- 
itable thought, sent forth at the same time and transmitted by 
waves of psychic ether, will reach numberless souls who are de- 
spairing, and will perhaps lift them -to higher conditions in the 
mundane as well as in the spiritual spheres. 

1524. "Among the many bright spirits I have met is one 
who in earth life held the humble position of coal-heaver, but 
from his spirit there radiates a light the equal of which I seldom 
see. This poor old man in earth life could not give material aid 
to his fellow-men; but, out of the richness of his benevolent heart, 
he gave that which is more, higher, nobler, and more God-like — 
loving words and kindly deeds. He was never too tired to offer 
sympathy to those who stood in need of it, and never too weary 
to speak a cheery word to his tired neighbors. I am told that his 
body was laid away at the expense of the city in which he lived, 
but he was not a pauper in spirit — no indeed! When he obeyed 
the summons to come up higher, he met with a loving reception : 
for all his life he had been sending forth only the purest and 
best that his soul was capable of. 

•'How true that 'bread cast upon the waters shall return'! 

(Signed) "Dr. Reed:' 

No. 60. (888.) 

V/liy the Devil was Invented. 

1525. "In their religion, people of every nation, for ages 
and ages gone by, have inculcated endless torment, with a per- 
sonal devil as superintendent, and the 

(a) "Orthodox religion to-day has not outgrown that relic 
of barbarism. 

(b) "In these closing years of the nineteenth century min- 
isters are still preaching of this hideous myth. 

1526. "The devil was invented by crafty priests to hold the 
masses in subjection. 

"In this way they hoped to gain control of the entire mass 
of people; and, to their shame, they have succeeded even beyond 
their most sanguine expectations: for there is not a person in- 
side the pale of the orthodox religion that does not believe in a 
personal devil — a person who, while not as powertul as God, is 
far more cunning. 

1527. "Good and evil exist in all things; and. if you culti- 
vate the evil within your soul, you are raising a devil for yourself, 
and all the wrong thoughts and deeds will create a 'hades' for 
your conscience. 

1528. "But, in the name of common sense, do away with the 
idea of a personal devil : for. when you say k a personal devil,' you 



282 RENDING THE VAIL. 

give to him the attributes of a being; and there is not a human 
soul beneath Nature's canopy of blue but has some spark of good 
within his soul. 

{a) "True, his nature may be so overgrown with tares of 
evil that you can scarce catch a glimpse of the beautiful blossoms 
of truth ; but uproot the weeds and tares of evil and truth's flow- 
ers will spring up, and in time blossom into beauty and fragrance. 

(b) "It is the duty of every human soul to endeavor to bring 
forth all that is good and true within himself and his fellow- 
beings. 

1529. "Commence on the earth plane; and, when your soul 
has grown strong enough to burst the covering that encloses it 
and you pass into the realms of perfect day, your task will not 
be so burdensome: for you can say, k My work on earth is done,' 
and commence the ascent with joyful hearts. 

1530. "Let each soul be a garden-spot for truth's brightest 
flowers. Keep all the tares carefully weeded out, and let your 
souls grow in beautv and grandeur. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

1531. Time, 80 seconds; 4.4 words per second. This includes 
the time of taking the three leaves, one at a time, out of the tab- 
let and placing them upon the table so that the actual writing 
was near 5 words per second, and this estimate according to the 
count of the pulse-beat of six members of the circle. 

No. 61. (895.) 

"MediumsM])." 

1532. (a) "Among every nation of people that we have any 
record of, either historical or traditional, have existed individuals 
so sensitively organized that strange manifestations have taken 
place in their presence. Different races, different peoples, and 
people of different ages have given to these individuals different 
names, and to-day they are known to the world as mediums. 

(&) "Mediumship depends more upon the magnetic condi- 
tions of the body that enable it to vibrate in perfect accord 
with higher forces, than on any peculiar mental capacity. 

1533. "Spiritualism is founded upon natural law; therefore 
all of the phenomena come through natural law. 

1534. "Comprehending this, it can be understood that the 
more perfect the instrument the better the work. 

1535. "You would not expect a musician to make beautiful 
music on an instrument that was not in tune, and much less 
should you expect the angel world to bring you perfect messages 
through an undeveloped medium. , 

1536. "It has been just as essential in the past to observe 
conditions as it is now. You will find this fact attested in your 
Bible, even to color of cabinet curtains for benefit of the higher 
forces. (Ex. xxv. 4; xxvi. 1-31; 2d Chron. iii. 14.) 



RENDING THE VAIL. 283 

1537. "One of the first and earliest phases developed is 
table-tipping and rapping. 

(a) "And it is the tiny rap that opened up the beauties of 
the world beyond for you mortals. 

1538. "Raps are produced by an electric concussion. 

1539. "We are able also to produce them through the exer 
cise of our will-power, in various ways. 

1540. "The latter method is used oftener than the former, 
bcause it is more readily understood by the lower forces. 

1541. "Then you have independent slate-writing, which is 
also produced through will-power exercised by the unseen forces, 
and is one of the best phases of physical mediumship. 

1542. "The mental phases are all the result of spirit hypnot- 
ism; and their excellence depends upon the mental capacity of 
the spirit operators as well as upon the brain of the medium — 
their subject. 

1543. "Materialization, the phase you are witnessing to- 
night, has been explained to you many times, so it is needless for 
me to say it is the highest as well as the most difficult of all phys- 
ical manifestations; and the least understood; and, therefore, 
should be the last phase for skeptics to investigate. 

1544. "When Spiritualists quit insisting that skeptics be al- 
lowed to enter a materializing seance, then, and no earlier, will 
you begin to receive the highest manifestations in that phase of 
mediumship. 

1545. "Mediums should be cared for as you would care for 
a sensitive hot-house plant, for they are truly human sensitives. 

1546. "A true sensitive is like a sponge — takes up everything 
it comes in contact with. 

1547. "Therefore if you wish your mediums to be pure, place 
them in pure surroundings: for like attracts like. 

1548. "Spirits are living in a world whose surroundings are 
as tangible to them as the earthly surroundings are to vou. 

(Signed) ' "Dr. Reed." 

No. 62. (917.) 

The Second Birth. 

1549. "My friends, the outer covering, or visible body, must 
decay in order for the inner or life principle to quicken into life 
and germinate new power. 

1550. "Nature is brim-full of illustrations of this fact. 

(a) "The acorn must fall to the ground and decay in order 
for the germ within to spring up into an oak. Man's physical 
body must pass away ere his soul can mount toward its perfection. 

(b) "Men often query: 'If man is immortal, why can we not 
discern the soul?' 



284 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(c) "Can any of you, with the most powerful microscope 
that has been invented, find the germ of life within the tiny 
acorn? The answer always comes back in the negative. 

(d) "Yet within the acorn is the possibility of an oak-tree. 
Every limb, branch, twig, and leaf is embodied within the acorn, 
and only needs the necessary conditions to become a full-grown 
oak. 

(<?) "So it is Avith the human family. You only see the out- 
Avard expression of the inward light. 

(/) "The soul, or life germ, is the God principle within any 
living thing. It is that which is striving for higher, nobler ends. 

(g) "Often in an ill-shapen body you will find the noblest 
soul: the body being weak affords the soul a greater opportunity 
to expand. 

(h) "Nature has been exceedingly wise in all her provisions : 
for every seeming injustice there is an equal compensation. 

(i) "The decay of the outward body is prophetic of the ex- 
pansion of the inward body or soul. 

1550. "You often hear people say: 'I know him like a book.' 

(a) "Such a remark is a grave mistake, for none of you are 
acquainted with your fellow-man. You may be ever so well ac- 
quainted with the body they dwell in, but only through the sixth 
sense — intuition — can you know the true man. 

(b) "At rare intervals you may meet one whose rays are so 
strong and pure that you feel that you truly know the man. 

(Signed) "Dr. Reed." 
Over 300 words in 40 seconds; or over 7 words in 1 second. 

No. 63. (931.) 

Schools of Learning in Spirit Life. — Fine Art and Inventions Originate 
with Spirits and are Reflected to Earth Minds. 

1551. "You on earth often wonder if we have schools of 
learning in the spirit world. 

1552. "You have been told many times that the spirit world 
is a counterpart of your world. Understanding this, you cannot 
but know that we have schools where all who so desire it have 
an opportunity to progress mentally as well as spiritually. 

1553. "All of your so-called inventions are perfected in 
the spirit world by those interested in that line of work, before 
they are impressed upon some sensitive on the earth plane. 
Sometimes these impressions are received as they are trans- 
mitted. When such is the case, you have what you call a perfect 
invention. 

1554. "Art studios abound in the spirit world. There those 
who stood foremost in the ranks on earth are being taught by most 
advanced artists to paint through will-power alone, and not to use 
their hands. They, in their turn, are teaching others not so far 
advanced as themselves. When the picture is perfected, they 



RENDING THE VAIL. 285 

endeavor to impress it upon the mind of some artist on your 
earth. The beautiful dream pictures of your artists to-day are 
the result of this class of spirits. 

1555. "The next decade will witness many startling results 
in photography — things that at the present time seem impossible. 

1556. "Astronomers, in spirit life, have discovered some 
startling facts in regard to the different planets, and these, too, 
will be impressed upon the minds of their co-workers on the earth. 
Ere many years have passed, you will be astonished at the mar- 
velous results in this branch of science. 

1557. "As your love opens up the gateway of spirit com- 
munion, we hasten down the pathway, bearing to you our richest 
gifts — precious thoughts that should lift you above the petty 
struggles and cares of life and cause you to look with longing 
eyes towards the beautiful home of the soul. 

(Signed) "Dr. Reed:' 

No. 64. (941.) 

Death Likened unto a Young Man Leaving His Childhood's Home and 
Starting for Himself. 

1558. "There is no better way to teach mankind the laws 
which govern Spiritualism than by investigation. Yet these in- 
vestigations may seem imperfect to himself, though they seem to 
form a link between that which mind can grasp and that vast- 
ness of subject which requires of the mind great effort to 
comprehend. 

1559. "Let us simply say that the spirit going out from its 
physical home is, in a greater sense, what, in the lesser sense, 
is the going out into life of young manhood and young woman- 
hood from the home into the world of sunshine and happiness. 

1560. "As the young mind expands, restless longings and 
an endeavor to be like the father and mother, the mind desires to 
conquer the obstacles of life, and to achieve the victories that 
the parents before them have done. 

1561. "So the finite soul, though cradled in the harmony 
of its spiritual home, feels the quickening of the germ of its own 
powers and longs to become like the parent and put forth its 
creative energy in the greater type of infinity. 

1562. "We say that eternity is boundless and progression 
unending. 

(Signed) "ReedJ' 

No. 65. (949.) 

This Writing Was in Answer to Mr. Pratt's Question at Par. OJ+3. 

1563. "Take away the belief in the power of spirit commun- 
ion and there would be nothing left — not even so much as a 
nutshell. 

19 



286 REXDIXG THE TAIL. 

1561. ''Spiritualists insist that all men must save them 
selves by living pure lives and dispensing charity, light, and 
mercy; and, naturally enough, such a philosophy would be con- 
demned by those who have been acting as middlemen between 
the man who does not feel inclined to give up his evil ways and 
a God which is purchasable, or, at all events, who can be per- 
suaded by a paid go-between to reconsider a sentence to hell and 
change the life to one of endless felicity in a city whose streets 
are of gold and whose decorations are precious stones. 

1565. The spiritual philosophy teaches that whatever a man 
soweth, that also shall he reap. 

1566. "But that is not the kind of a religion bad men and 
bad women want. They prefer a salvation that can be purchased 
at the last moment, a process of redemption that will transfer 
the murderer into a psalm-singing saint in a minute; and a cold, 
miserly, and corrupt old sinnner into a cherub for a small sum of 
money given to some charitable institution at the brink of the 
grave. Spiritualism is rejected bv such beasts. 

(Signed) "Reed.'? 

No. 66. (960.) 

The Star Circle. 

1567. "There are many different circles or bands in the 
spirit world, and the Star Circle is one of the strongest and best 
known. The spirits in this circle have banded themselves to- 
gether for the purpose of benefiting those on a lower plane than 
themselves, and especially on the earth plane. 

1568. "Any spirit who is adapted spiritually for this work 
can become a worker in the band, and they have certain formal- 
ities they go through, just the same as you have in your secret 
societies on earth. 

"These spirits are doing a noble work for both the spiritual 
and material worlds. By their thoughts and actions they are 
bringing sunlight into manv darkened lives. 

(Signed) "Rend." 

No. 67. (972.) 

"Nature is Truth, and Truth is Absolute Law." 

1569. "In answer to yonr question at par. 973, I have this 
to say: 

"Nature is truth. When you build a faith on a basis of mor- 
tal origin, it is of a kind to fall. You may live within the truth 
of Nature for a time, but the age has been reached when mind 
works out of bondage to an understanding of the issues from 
whence and what is life. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 287 

1570. "The churches are to-day growing less a power to 
hold within its confines the individuals who are thinking beyond 
a boundary. 

1571. "Mind that is awake in spiritual knowledge is not sat 
isfied to adhere to a system of religious laws that are devised by 
mortal instrumentality. 

1572. "The eagerness with which truth is taken up and be- 
comes understanding to individuals who are working away from 
the Church should be convincing to the clergy that their preach- 
ings are not soul-satisfying. 

1573. "A hungry spirit encased in mortality with a recept- 
ive, active mind finds less food in the process of church domains 
than Nature can furnish in her most remote desert. 

1574. "What is Nature? What is a flower, a shrub, a tree? 
What are mountains, lakes, and all objects, animate and inani- 
mate? They are products of Nature. 

1575. "What grows the flowers, the shrub, the tree? What 
builds up the mountains? What are the lakes and rivers and 
oceans. 

1576. "They are a principle, a truth, and truth is absolute 
law. 

1577. "Now, how can you environ truth? How can you sur- 
round it within a radius to a formalized design of arrangements? 

1578. "What right has a mortal to draw a circle, put a mor- 
tal inside of this circle^ and say, 'Now, you stay there — don't look 
outside; if you do, you are lost'? 

1578J. "Man cannot make laws for truth, because truth is 
law, and man is teaching and preaching untruth who miscon- 
strues the principles of truth. Some day it will rebound and 
strike with such fearful force that it will swallow up man's de- 
vised foundation to show him truth, so he cannot deny or reject it. 

1579. "When the Church opens her doors and proclaims, 
'Truth is free, it is everywhere, and we have just found it; enter i 
in, enjoy and understand with us,' there will not be seating capac-7 
ity. When you can worship Nature as Nature has asked to be 
worshiped, in all ages, with Nature out of doors. 

1580. "There is a dividing line in the church doctrines and 
the modern teacher of truth, and the dividing line is on that 
very principle in understanding of truth. 

(Signed) "Dr. Beed." 

No. 68. (1028.) 

It were Better That the Child be Taught Spiritualism than Trained 
to Lie, Cheat, and Steal from the Public. 

1581. "Friends, I wish you had the power to teach Spirit- 
ualism universally. I believe nine-tenths of the crimes in your 
calendar would never occur if the truths of Spiritualism were 



288 IiENDIXG THE VAIL. 

universally known ; and I believe if the little street urchins were 
taught that they are ever guarded by some loved one who has 
passed out, instead of being trained to lie, cheat, and steal from 
the public, how different their lives would be. Could these poor 
little outcasts be taught to realize that their loved ones wept 
over every wrong act, their lives of toil would not seem such 
a sacrifice, but they would gladly toil for the praise of those they 
loved. 

1582. "I am acquainted with one spirit in particular, who 
passed out in a tenement of one of your large cities. 

(a) ''This woman was, by nature and education, fitted for 
the life of a lady; but, after her husband passed away, leaving 
her with one child to care for (a little boy of four), she met with 
one reverse after another, and her fair-weather friends passed 
her by without a word of recognition. She was too proud to ap- 
ply at her old home for work and made the mistake of going to 
a large city to seek employment. 

(&) "She struggled for six years to support herself and 
child, but her naturally frail constitution gave way under the 
pressure of hard work and ill food. 

(c) "This woman knew nothing of Spiritualism, but was a 
devoted Christian and had trained her little boy in that faith. 

(d) "He w T as a bright, sensitive child, and adored his mother. 

(e) "At last her overworked frame refused to move any 
more; and with her child's hand clasped within her own, she bade 
him ever to remember Jesus was watching over him and would 
care for him. With a tender kiss of farewell on her lips, her 
spirit took its flight, and the poor broken-hearted child was left 
in the w r orld alone! 

1583. "Days and weeks w T ent by, and still his prayers were 
not answered, and the trusting child began to think, 'Mamma 
must have trusted Jesus too much, for he don't seem to help me 
as she said he would.' 

1584. "How much better it would have been if that mother 
could have told her darling that his mother would always watch 
over him and care for him, even though she was called to another 
home. That child would have known that his mother would keep 
her w T ord. That would have been a lesson he could have under- 
stood. If he could have realized that his mother's pure spirit 
was watching over him daily, he would not have lost faith in 
mankind and would not be wearing the dress of a criminal, as 
he is to-day. He would have loved his mother as he did before 
she passed away. Even now, the memory of her love helps to 
brighten his dreary path. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 289 

No. 69. (1045.) 

Insanity. 

1585. "Friends, many of you have been wondering why we 
have never explained to you what we think is the cause ot 
insanity. 

1586. "After investigation for some time, I find that insan- 
ity proper is caused by diseased brain. 

1587. "The spirit controls the body through the brain, and 
when that is out of harmony it is impossible for the spirit to 
get perfect control. Your best musicians cannot make perfect 
music on an imperfect or broken instrument. Neither can the 
spirit direct the human body through a diseased brain. 

1588. "An insane person, on passing out of the mortal, re- 
gains sanity at once. He may be a little confused at first, as such 
persons seldom realize their condition when leaving the body. 

1589. "You will notice in my first remarks I used the ex- 
pression 'insanity proper.' I did that because we recognize two 
classes of insane subjects. 

1590. "I will say, one-third, at the least, of your so-called in- 
sane patients are only the victims of a powerful obsession; and 
I believe — in fact, I know — all such could be cured through the 
use of hypnotic power. In this way the obsessing spirit would 
be driven away and their own spirit would regain control of the 
bodv. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 70. (1056.) 

Sympathy. 

1591. "Sympathy is a power so common that a greater part 
of humanity come in daily contact with it. Yet it is less under- 
stood than any other of Nature's forces. 

1592. "Spiritualism is that which makes you feel that there 
are others in the great brotherhood of men, whose hearts beat 
in unison with your own. You can never truly sympathize with 
another unless you have had a kindred experience. But you can 
feel that essence of divine sympathy for any one that is in dis- 
tress. You may only give a kind word or a bright smile, or the 
tender pressure of your hand. Still the other soul will know you 
are in sympathy. Children are among the true bearers of this 
subtle power. 

159-°). "While I was living on earth, I had a gentleman tell 
me that at one time he was disheartened and weary of the world, 
and he went to his boarding-house with the full determination of 
putting an end to his life; and one of the inmates of the house 
was a little girl of five, to whom he often brought presents of toys 
and sweetmeats when he would return from work, and she was 



290 RENDING THE VAIL. 

in the habit of fallowing him to his room on his return, to see 
what he would have for her. 

(a) "On this evening, as usual, she followed him, and he 
was so engrossed with his own gloomy thoughts that he did not 
notice the little one. He sank dejectedly into a chair, preparatory 
to writing a letter home. All at once he felt someone on the 
back of his chair and two little arms were thrown around his 
neck and a childish word: 'I feel so sorry because you do.' 

(&) "He told me that there was such a genuine ring of sym- 
pathy in the child's voice that he broke down and cried. He after- 
wards reflected on what he was about to do, and saw the utter 
folly of it all. 

1594. "This power is not only given to human beingSj but 
animals, I think, have the same power. Have you ever noticed 
how a dog seems to sympathize with his master? You cannot re- 
alize the joy it is to feel that someone truly sympathizes with you 
unless you stand aside in the world and feel that all are strangers 
to you. Then a look, or a kind word, or the friendly shake of 
the hand, comes like a ray of sunlight whose radiance is divine. 

" k It is more blessed to give than to receive.' The power that 
binds humanity together regardless of rank. When you are in 
need of sympathy, you care not whose hand brings the heavenly 
balm. From the lips of a slayc as it is from his master. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 71. (1066.) 

The First Step in Spirit Life to Forget Earthly Surroundings. — For 

This Purpose a New Name is Given, and the Surname 

Seldom Used. 

1595. "When a spirit enters life in the spirit spheres, there 
are bands of spirits whose only duty is to teach spirits of this 
class the laws of progression in the new life. 

1596. "In order for a spirit to progress, he must first forget 
his earthly surroundings as much as possible; and, in order to do 
this, the first step is to lay aside the earthly name. Some, how- 
ever, still use the first name. Others are given new names. 

1597. "This may seem strange to you mortals, so I will show 
you how practical it is. We transact no business of a nature 
that w 7 ould require a man to sign his full name, in the spirit world, 
and w 7 hen he returns to earth is the only time he has cause to 
use his surname, and this is the reason spirits usually give their 
first names at a seance, and this will account for the confusion 
sometimes exhibited by a spirit when you suddenly ask for his 
name in full. 

1598. "Another reason is that you make yourself positive 
when you do this, and they can gather little strength from you. 
Spirits who have been in- spirit life for a long time tell me that 



RENDING THE VAIL. 291 

they sometimes have to think for a minute what their earth 
names were. 

(a) "They outgrow their old surroundings just the same as 
a child outgrows its childhood. 

(b) "The earth life is only the kindergarten in the school of 
life and knowledge. 

"After you leave the earth plane and go from sphere to 
sphere in the spirit world, you will be surprised to learn how 
ignorant you were on earth. You will then be anxious for those 
still on the earth plane to come to the full understanding of life 
and its import of mind and its destiny. You will want them to 
learn of all things that relate to human life and its experience 
even after it has passed through the change you call death. 

1599. "We call it the new T birth — into a newer and fuller 
life, a life no pen can describe or tongue tell the beauty of. 

1600. "The key that unlocks the mysteries of this beautiful 
land beyond the tomb is called love, and every human being has 
it in his power to open the door and enter in. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 72. (1077.) 

The Judge. — The Judgment. 

1601. "We have said before, in the circle, that your con- 
science is your judge, and will see that the scales of Justice bal- 
ance perfectly; and, when you enter spirit life, you will naturally 
take the place that, through your own thoughts and actions, you 
have designed for yourself. 

1602. "After you come to the full realization of the wrongs 
you committed in the body and have undone them, you will pro- 
gress more 'rapidly. 

1603. "It is not always easy to undo a wrong act, especially 
after you have passed out of the body: for, very frequently, the 
person wronged does not believe in spirit communion, and then 
it is indeed difficult to make reparation. 

1604. "What is a sin to you may be a good to others. But 
every wrong thought or act not only leaves an indelible scar on 
your own soul, but starts a wave of vibrations that bring evil to 
all they come in contact with. 

1605. "In time you make such compensation as will hide 
these scars, but they are still there. 

1606. "Mortals cannot live too pure a life. The purer your 
life is on earth, the more beautiful will be its surroundings in the 
other life. 

1607. "Love your fellow-man as yourself, and feel that all 
humanity is akin. No matter what their station in the earth 
life may be, when they pass into spirit life you find that all are- 
of one large family, and are estimated at their true worth. 

(Signed) "Reed." 



292 REXDIXG THE TAIL. 



No. 73. (1084.) 

(To question at par. 1083.) 

Man is Nature's Highest Handiwork. 

1608. "If by 'angels' you mean the spirits of men who are 
out of the physical body, we must answer 'No' to the first part 
of your question. 

"As far as we know, there is nothing- in your world superior 
to man. He is Nature's highest handiwork in the animal king- 
dom and ranks aboye all other animals intellectually; therefore 
he is the highest. 

1609. "No, we cannot know of anything that we cannot see 
or trayerse. We have to come into the aura of someone on the 
earth plane when we wish to see earthly things, but in the spirit 
realms we can see all things clearly. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 74. (1089.) 

How Spirits Subsist . 

1610. "We haye said before that spirits do not subsist in the 
spirit world as mortals do on earth. 

1611. "In the spirit world they live by absorptions. They 
absorb spiritual food from the atmosphere and from spiritual 
fruits. In the lower spheres, or planes, they absorb the essence, 
while the mortals eat the substance. 

1612. "They often satisfy their appetites through men and 
women who do not dream that they are continually surrounded 
by an unseen world of beings who are daily preying on them. 

1613. "After they become more advanced, they live on 
spiritual food alone. 

1614. "You should not encourage a spirit to satisfy any 
appetite through a mortal. By so doing, you retard their higher 
development and keep them in the lower spheres or zones of 
spirit life. 

(Signed) "Reed." 

No. 75. (1207.) 

Suicide. 

Spirit Reed stood forth with trumpet in hand, and, speak- 
ing through it, said: 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



293 




•> 






i'v 






r 





1615. Mr. EVANS. 



1616. Judge HERMAN. 



1617. "Friends, have you noticed the awful record of sui- 
cide as chronicled by your daily press? And how that it seems 
to be greatly on the increase? 

"I believe that, with your permission, I will try to write as 
touching that subject." 

The circle answer: "We certainly would be pleased to have 
vou do so." 

Spirit: "I will try." 

He then set down the trumpet, and, taking a tablet, began to 
write, talking all the while, saying orally: 

1618. "I am writing of the consequences as well as causes 
of suicide. I hope the whole world may read what I here write. 
I believe it would save many an one from an awful doom. No 
one comes to this side of life with greater and more bitter dis- 
appointment than the one who takes his own physical life. 

1619. "In committing this rash act he generally does so 
hoping to be relieved from some great mental, physical, or other 
trouble, real or imaginary; but awakens here to find that, by his 
own hand, he is plunged into greater darkness, having committed 
the greatest crime to Nature and himself possible for him to have 
committed: for, of all crimes against Nature, self-murder is the 
greatest and most difficult of atonement. 

"Could the laws of the relations of the earth life to the spirit 
world be inculcated into the minds of earth's children, the awful 
record of crime would, most certainly, very rapidly grow less 
and less until at last reduced to a very small minimum." (250 
words.) 

During this speech, not through the trumpet, but in low, 
oral, audible speech, at the rate of time for common conversa- 
tion, this spirit simultaneously produced this writing, and all 



294 RENDING THE VAIL. 

the while standing in the plain sight of all the members of the 
circle: 

1620. "Year by year the list of suicides grows larger on 
your earth, and many frequently ask: 'Why is this?' And,, 
friends, to-night I will tell you what I know in regard to this sub- 
ject; and it may help you to answer the oft-repeated question. 

1621. "In the first place, man cannot commit a greater crime 
than the one of taking his own life. In doing this he overthrows 
one of the laws of Nature, and his suffering, when he fully realizes 
his awful mistake, is necessarily very great. He has not escaped 
any pain or disgrace; but has added thereto many fold. 

1622. "You may kill the body, but the real man — the mind, 
or real self — is not dead, and is the only part of man that can 
suffer. And when you cat short your earthly career, you add to 
the list of your wrong-doings — murder! 

162:1 "The planets exert a great influence over the lives of 
men, which many times brings to their minds thoughts of self- 
murder. But these can be overcome by will-power and banishing 
such thoughts from the mind. 

1624. "Again these thoughts are brought by someone who 
has passed out in that manner. They come, not maliciously, to 
cause the subject to commit the act, but they are trying to tell 
or impress the subject as to the fact that they have passed to 
spirit life. And often their impressions are so discolored that 
you reach the idea of self-destruction as applied to the subject. 

1625. "When mortals begin to know that by death they can- 
not escape from any of the trials of earth, and have more difficulty 
in correcting their mistakes, they will then begin to see that it 
is better for each and all to live out the time alloted to them by 
wise old Mother Nature. 

1626. "Friends, there may be times in your life that you feel 
that all is a blank before you, and you long for the courage to 
end it all. Do not say, 'Long for this courage,' but the opposite: 
for you should not become cowardly enough to take away that 
which you had no part in fashioning. 

1627. "You may think 'cowardice' is too rough a term to 
use here, but, friends, it is not : for many have not the courage to 
face the awful trials that lay before them, never seeming to know 
that there is a bright as well as dark side to everything: for any- 
thing that has the power to cast a dark shadow has the opposite 
power also. 

1628. "No matter what may come into your lives, I say to 
you to-night, my friends, have the courage to bear your burdens, 
and when the time comes for the spirit to separate from your 
bodv. you can feel that you have indeed fitted yourselves for a 
higher, purer life. But if you have been guilty of suicide, you 
may have to spend years in atonement: for, as you sow, so shall 
you reap. If you sow tares, you will surely reap them. 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 



295 



1629. "Scatter the broad fields of your earth life with clean 
seed and reap a pure harvest. (522 words.) 

(Signed) "Reed." 

Effort No. 76. (1050.) 

Spirit Reed, standing in the cabinet door, in a clear, distinct 
whisper, uttered his benediction, thus: 

1630. ''Friends, it is glorious to be able to thus stand be- 
tween the denizens of the two worlds, and, in behalf of the spirit 
realms, proclaim and demonstrate to you mortals the continuance 
of life to a home beyond the tomb; to let you know that death 
is but a change of homes — a moving out of one house of habita- 
tion into a more delightful house — a more enduring home. 

1631. "Oh, what a thrill of joy runs along the corridors of 
the 'many mansions' as the immortal occupants thereof learn of 
the advancement, among earth's people, of this superlative truth! 

1632. "May you receive the teachings and knowledge with 
benefit to yourselves and teach the good news to inquiring 
minds." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Psychic Writings of William Denton. 

1633. This spirit claims to be 
the personality known at one 
time as William Denton, who 
was born at Darlington, Eng- 
land, about May 2, 1823, and 
came to America in early life. 
For a few years he taught 
school, then went to lecturing. 
He became distinguished as a 
geologist and naturalist, and 
while in search of data for sci- 
ence and natural history, on the 
island of New Guinea, in 188S, 
lost his life to the physical. He 
was the author of the books 
"Our Planet, Its Past and Fut- 
ure," "Soul of Things," "Rad- 
ical Rhymes," "Radical Dis- 
courses," "Is Darwin Right?" 
and many others. 

And now, in this way, comes 

this spirit, endeavoring to show 

forth his identity to such as choose to interest themselves in the 

matter, and to present a summary of his additional researches 



<df 




. 


/* 






K 


■" 1 


'"CL"^ 





WILLIAM DENTON. 



296 RENDING THE VAIL. 

since making his transition, in the hope that many, by the mat- 
ter herein set out, may be led to see a light that may guide them 
into better conditions for themselves as the coming ages roll away. 
The manner of the production of these writings the reader will 
find fully set out in Part First, and should not fail to review as 
directed by the marginal references; and, finally, considering the 
whole context, find for himself whether the evidence is sufficient 
to support the claims. 

No. 2. (174.) 

Experiences. 

1034. "These laws of development cause summers and win- 
ters in Nature. So it is with man. Alterations are necessary. 
Even beauty and poetry ask for variation of life. The calm of the 
sea is not its highest beauty. A rough experience works out much 
good, as you can see. 

(a) "By this law of change all evil is overruled by right. 

(b) i "Some severe experiences in human life, some friction 
applied to the inward sensibility, frequently awakens a sublime 
vigor of passion and thoughts, developing deeds and utterances 
which are inspired and can never be forgotten. 

(c) "This law of experiences is not the code fixed to a pro 
bationary state of being. 

(d) "It is the law of Nature, of progress and growth. 

(e) "Experience strengthens the soul, and makes man subdue 
the earth he walks upon. 

1635. "Ignorance is the greatest foe to man, and has filled 
the world with warriors. 

(a) "Thousands have died on the cross in every department 
of human experiences because the people have not known how to 
read the laws of Nature. 

1636. "Everything which moves and feels and thinks is the 
omnipotent spirit of Nature impregnated with music. 

1637. "Nothing less than Divine Intelligence can compre- 
hend the infinite destinies that slumber in the germ of a forth- 
coming human being; and nothing can be of more importance 
to such a being than experience. All else, as time ultimately 
demonstrates, is secondary and subservient. 

1638. "The beginning and the end of all human endeavor 
is to exist. 

(a) "The arts and sciences and machinations by which man 
subsists are as transient as the passing clouds, as ephemeral as 
the shadows of earth-born dreams. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 3. (178.) 

Destiny of Spiritualism. 

1639. "Friends, a very little observation of this kind will 
convince a reflecting person of two things: 



RENDING THE TAIL. 297 

(a) "That Spiritualism takes a higher moral rank than the 
churches of this period, having a more ennobling influence over 
its adherents. 

(b) "And that, fastening as it does in literary and scientific 
minds, it will soon be the religion of the world. 

1040. "It is a liberalization of the moral and reflective 
faculties from the influence of priestcraft similar to republican- 
ism over monarchism. 

"This is the inevitable result of educating the masses to 
think for themselves. 

(Signed) "William Denton." 

No. 4. (ISO.) 

Capital Punishment Laws. 

1641. "In looking over the so-called civilized portions of 
the globe, you cannot but believe that your laws for capital pun- 
ishment are based on a false religion. 

1642. kt If there ever is a mockery on the face of the earth, 
it is your priests kneeling on one side of a man while the hang- 
man, on the other, is preparing to send this poor soul into 
eternity." 

The spirit now changes his theme. 

First Experiences in Spirit Life. 

1643. (a) "As soon as you have departed into spirit life, 
it is like a pleasant dream. 

(b) "You look around and behold many of your loved whom 
you remember to have been long since dead. 

(c) "As fast as you remember them, they come and greet 
you kindly, lovingly. 

(d) "Then comes your loving wife and daughters; then, per- 
haps, a little son that you almost idolized. 

(e) "Friends perceiving that these emotions are so great, 
with a kind salutation, you are magnetized into another sweet 
slumber, until you gain more strength. 

if) "By and by, you awake again, so your spirit friends may 
teach you to realize the new birth. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 5. (185.) 

Consolation of Spiritualism. 

1644. "Many people think there is nothing in Spiritualism; 
but the day is not far distant when thousands upon thousands 
will herald the glad tidings of this grand fundamental truth, 
widespread and far-reaching, till the two worlds are united in 
one grand whole. When the blessed boon is within the reach 
of every soul-hungry creature, those grasping for a knowledge 



298 REXDIXG THE VAIL. 

of the certainty of life after death of the body shall have it veri- 
fied: assurance shall be made doubly sure by absolute knowledge 
through various phenomena. 

1645. "Blind faith alone cannot suffice. You must have 
proof of continued existence. 

"How sweet and assuring, then, is the gentle touch or vari- 
ous other intimations of the presence of some loved one. 

(Signed) "Prof. Denton." 

No. 6. (202J 

Composition of the Upper Air. 

1646. "The upper air is composed of electricity in different 
degrees and forms of refinement and states of activity. And in 
order to provide for the more complete accommodation and de- 
velopment, the lowest stratum of air — that which you inhale — 
is provided. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 7. (208.) 

This Revelation to Clear Away the Rubbish. 

1647. "Fortunately for the world, friends, that the clouds 
of ignorance in some portions of your world are broken and the 
dawn of spiritual light shines upon your earth to-day. 

1648. "The light of spiritual revelation is not dim; its doors 
are wide open from the world of spirit, to clear away the rubbish 
which has accumulated for ages and ages. 

1649. "I hope the idea of reincarnation will be dismissed as 
an error (205), that holds the soul to earth rather than a means 
whereby you can be freed from the conditions of earthly 
ignorance. 

1650. "You are in the midst of great changes and you are 
scarcely conscious of it. 

1051. "The destruction of (205 e) the Atlantas* was owing 
to the convulsion of Nature. I have shown the great law which 
depressed the Atlantas. 

[The spirit no doubt refers to his book, "Our Planet."] 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 8. (230.) 

Necessary to Study the Law. 

1652. "Oh, friends, you have so much to learn! You have 
not yet escaped from the temptations of an imperfect nature. 
You are still under the rule of law. You cannot communicate 

*This spirit speaks of Atlantas as plural, as having been a group of islands, some of 
them large like Australia, New Guinea ; and also claims "as" instead of "is" to be the bet- 
ter termination, even for the singular. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 299 

with your friends until you have learned, first, the proper meth- 
ods; and, next, how to use them. 

1653. "Do not think that, with a spirit, all things are possi- 
ble. We can reach you because we have been so long familiar 
with the means of communication; and, especially, because of our 
long association with you. I have also been brought en rapport 
with your dear friends and children. I have been their spiritual 
director as well as yours. 

1G54. "There is no night here; and there are, consequently, 
no days as I once measured and as you still measure time. 

(a) "Time here is measured only by emotions, events, and 
deeds. 

(o) "There are dark places and darkened souls, as there are 
on earth. 

1655. "Why is it that there exists such a fear, by the church 
members, of investigating the truths and facts of Spiritualism? 
is a serious question. 

(a) "Many persons dare not think for themselves. A false 
interpretation of past history has placed a fear upon honest, well- 
meaning individuals. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

Time, 18 seconds ; 206 words ; rate, over 11 words per second, 
or 686 words per minute. (The reader is referred back to para- 
graphs 232, 233, 234, and 235.) 

No. 9. (242.) 

Physical Death out the Door of Eternal Life. 

1656„ "Do not be discouraged, friends; physical death, it 
is true, is sure to overtake every form of life; but it should not 
darken your lives or cast a shadow across the threshold of any 
home: for it is the opening door for a brighter, beautiful, and eter- 
nal spiritual existence, far away, and yet so near, where you can 
realize that beautiful beyond, where life shall be real and earnest; 
where you can meet face to face on this beautiful shore; 

(a) "Where the tongue of slander shall be no more; and 
where the tablets of memory can be read like an open book; and 
where your impressions shall guide you and you can walk with 
the pure and the good. 

1657. "There is not a world whose magnitude transcends 
your exalted conceptions as this world. Its sublime beauty ex- 
cels all language to portray and its immeasureableness all known 
to mortals. 

(Signed) " Den ton. v 

No. 10. (255.) 

Guidance for All Who Listen for the Word. 

1658. "There is guidance for each one of you, and by lonely 
listening you shall hear the right word. 



300 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1659. "Why do you choose, so painfully, your place and 
occupation and associates and modes of action and of en- 
tertainment? 

1660. Place yourself in the middle of this stream of power 
and wisdom which flows into you as life, place yourself in the 
full center of the flood of light; then you are, without effort, im- 
pelled to the truth; then you put all gainsayers in the wrong. 
Each man has his own vocation. There is one direction in which 
all space is open to you. You have faculties inviting you thither 
to endless exertion. 

1661. "The spirit world is large and affords space for all 
modes of love and fortitude. You live in the midst of blessings, 
but you are utterly insensible to the greatness of the source from 
whence they come. 

1662. "You speak of your civilization, your arts, your free- 
dom, your laws; you forget entirely how large a share is due to 
Spiritualism, which, out of the page of man's history, and what 
would these laws have been? 

1663. "Elevate the despairing people and make them free 
and happy; but teach them to be majestic in their force, generous 
in their clemency, noble in their triumphs. It is a holy mission. 
Holy must be your motives and your acts. Act as if your souls' 
salvation hung on each deed, and it will, for you stand already 
in the shadow of eternity. 

(Signed) u T)enton." 

No. 11. (271.) 

This Light Exhibits Results of Mythical Religion. 

1664. "Here you have the origin of religion and mythol- 
ogy from its inception to its completion, from its germinating 
principles of error, through its period of growth, budding, and 
blossoming, until you behold the ripe fruit of ignorance and 
superstition. 

1665. "You are all endowed with a cheerful temper and a 
moderate sensibility. Some mischievous appetities and habits 
have been corrected by this philosophy. 

1666. "The love of study, to a passion which derives first 
vigor from enjoyment of this kind, supplies each day, each hour, 
with a perpetual source of independent and rational pleasure; and 
you are not sensible of any decay of your mental faculties. 

1667. "This original soul has been highly improved by this 
cultivation; but it may be questioned whether some flower of 
fancy, some great errors and prejudices have been educated from 
your minds. 

1668. "Since you have escaped from your childhood, the 
serious advice of a physician has seldom been required. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 301 

1669. "The present is a fleeting moment, the past is no more, 
and your prospect of the future is pleasant. 

(Signed) "Denton." 
No. 12. (282.) 

Unity and Dimensions of the Universe. 

1670. "You know, friends, that the great law of gravitation 
holds all worlds and sy stems of worlds bound together with the 
same omnipotent chain. 

1671. "This demonstrates the unity of the universe, and 
must lead you to believe that every fixed star is the center of a 
magnificent system of inhabited worlds like your own. 

1672. "How feeble is human conception to grasp the uni- 
verse! You think you understand science and have soared up 
into the laws of things, but your highest conceptions reach out 
but a finger's length into the arcana of the infinite. 

1673. "There are suns far mightier than yours, countless 
as the sands of the sea; and worlds encircling them compared with 
which your own is but a gnat in the sunbeam. 

1671. "Telescopic visions enter but the perimeter of your 
great circle of things. 

1675. "There are intelligences upon orbs that roll in your 
depths so advanced in knowledge, science, and invention as to 
have passed beyond the grade of earthly attainments myriads of 
ages ago. 

(Signed) "Denton." 
(See Reed's writings, paragraphs 22, 283.) 

No. 13. (287.) 

Spiritual and Moral Universe as Perfect as the Physical. 

1676. "You have already seen how the material universe 
has the stamp of perfection upon it. To your minds these are 
divine lessons to man; while a superficial mind could see only 
discord. 

1677. "The spiritual and moral universe must have been 
constituted with equal perfections of character, as an infinite 
unity of law runs through every department of being, besides 
which, you cannot logically deny this. You admit that this has 
emanated from this source. 

1678. "In short, there is no such thing as evil in the uni- 
verse, either moral or physical, when you consider all things as 
a whole. 

1679. "It is only when you take things in detail, aside from 
their relations, that they may properly be called evil. 

1680. "For, by this, man and nature are developing accord- 
ing to a perfect law, and are so fundamentally perfect that the 
universe is growing up into grander conditions with all the rapid- 

20 



302 RENDING THE VAIL. 

ity that is possible consistent with the beautiful law of progres- 
sion, which is itself one of the leading features of perfection; 
and that this progression is upward toward higher refinements 
and exaltations, and not downward towards ruin, as you have 
already seen from the geological and other records of your earth. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 14. (294.) 

No Such Thing as Miracles, but All Must be under Immutable Law. 

1681. "If this truth is rightly considered, everyone who is 
capable of logical thought must surely admit that it knocks the 
bottom out of all theories affirmative of miraculous intervention 
of a higher power than you possess. 

1682. "No one is entitled to say that any given alleged mar- 
velous event is impossible, and no one is able to say that prayer for 
soul-change in the ordinary course of nature cannot possibly avail. 
To suppose that there is any inconsistency between the acceptance 
of the constancy of natural order and a belief in the efficacy of 
prayer is the most unaccountable, as it is obviously contradicted 
l>y analogies furnished by everyday experiences. 

1683. "This belief does not involve theism: for your earth 
is a particle of the solar system, while the solar system is hardly 
worth speaking of in relation to the All ; and, for anything that 
€an be, there are many beings endowed with full powers over 
your systems, yet practically as insignificant as yourselves in rela- 
tion to the, universe. 

1684. "This is a law of Nature, verifiable by everyday experi- 
ences: that your already formed convictions, your strong desires, 
your intent occupation with particular ideas, modify your men- 
tal operations to a marvelous extent and produce enduring 
changes in the directions and in the intensity of your intellectual 
and moral convictions. 

1685. "Men can intoxicate themselves with ideas as effect- 
ually as with alcohol or tobacco. 

1686. "The so-called religious world is given to strange 
delusions. Beyond doubt, Christianity, as now held, is doomed 



to fall. 



(Signed) "William Denton." 



No. 15. (307.) 

Source of Profanity. 

1687. "There are, at present, few people in the world who 
will be able to comprehend this work to its fullest extent; but 
there are some who desire to know the truth; and, for the sake 
of these few, we continue on. When your interest entirely fails, 
there remains no history of its wrongs, or joys, or sorrows. But 



RENDING THE VAIL. 303 

man never dies. Every one of you will meet each other face to 
face in the spirit world. 

1688. "A bad deed lives within you or within others, till 
love is kindled upon the soul's altar on the mount of Wisdom, in 
whose flame all wrongs are utterly consumed. 

1689. "Are you independent enough to believe fully in the 
laws of cause and effect? If so, are you enough natural to believe 
consistently with this belief? 

(a) "We have revealed to you these divine beings. 

{b) "We have revealed to you the character of this religion. 

(c) "You have perfect freedom in it. Nothing looks mo- 
notonous. 

(d) "There is no long-facedness, no hypocritical sanctimo- 
niousness about this. 

(e) "You believe all this, do you not? Assuredly. 

(f) "Then why not have the independence to assert it? 

(g) "The people have no right to stifle the voice of truth 
within you. 

1690. "The clergy have murdered many thousands of joys, 
and many confiding hearts have been wounded by the teachers 
of popular theology. 

1691. "From your New Testament you can find the entire 
vocabulary of the profanity of man. And when a clergyman 
preaches against the use of profane language — a habit like smok- 
ing and chewing, unfit for man — would it not be well for him 
to look somewhat into his own organism? 

1692. "Then let him show the people how children learn 
to sw^ear, and from what source vengeance, and retaliation, and 
the disgusting words are drawn. 

(Signed) ''Denton:' 

No. 16. (323.) 

No Devils Such as Theology Teaches. 

1693. "This fact releases the minds of timid and super- 
stitious people, for this proves that no such beings as devils, in the 
theological sense, can have any existence under the rule of a lov- 
ing and perfect being. 

1694. "This, also, show T s that man must be constitutionally 
perfect in the law of growth, and under these great laws of pro- 
gression must eventually be full grown in harmony with all 
natural laws. 

1695. "Hence the delusion that theologians labor under 
when they preach that man is lost and that he can be saved only 
by an immense machinery of theological dogmas." 

Secondly, in answer to this question : 

1696. "Prof. Denton, will you please inform the writer if 
there is a vein of coal or gas underlying the city of Parsons, in 
Labette County, Kansas? And, if so, what part of the city does 



304 RENDING THE VAIL. 

it underlie? And will the present attempt to discover the same 
prove successful? Frank T. Lamb, 

"Parsons, Kansas." 
the spirit wrote as follows : 

1696. "Yes, you have coal in paying quantities in Parsons. 
If this medium was there, he could locate it for you. You also 
have gas and lead in paying quantities. 

1697. "The great geological question of the igneous or 
aqueous origin of your globe and the primitive formations is not 
at rest yet. 

1698. "It seems important to ascertain the origin of the sec- 
ondary formation with the immense stores of life and organic 
remains herein entombed. 

1699. "No one can be a good geologist without having seen 
volcanoes, or, at least, without having studied well their actual 
operations throughout your globe. 

"I understand these laws better than I did twenty-five years 
ago. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 18. (34910 

None Should Fear to Utter Truth. — Traditional Myths and Creeds. — 
Faculty of Prophecy. 

1700. "Truth has nothing in it that any one should ever 
be ashamed of. It contains not the least element that any one 
should fear to utter. I am not ashamed to stand here and bear 
the responsibility of any one thought I express; but I do stand 
here to issue my perceptions of this truth to the world. 

1701. "When a fuller appreciation of this truth is reached, 
the disciple will learn that some things which are regarded as 
mysterious are but of natural law. 

1702. "The faculty of prophecy does exist, but may be in 
a very imperfect condition. What can be more absurd than that 
which exhibits itself to your attention every day: those who incul- 
cate and insist upon your accepting a creed handed down as being 
the divine word of God, who insist on your making sacrifice to 
that creed of your reason and natural sense and condition, just 
because it came down from the ages? and these ages were ages 
of less progress and worse conditions than the present. 

1703. "They insist upon your injuring your individuality 
now, by giving up to the dictations of traditional dogma. 

1704. "Therefore march valiantly to the front and face the 
enemy's fire. Unfurl the banners of love and truth, that the 
winds of heaven, bearing them aloft, may show the emblems of 
pure and freed religion. 

(Signed) "Denton." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 305 

No. 19. (372.) 

Life Inherent in and Evolved from Nebulous Matter. 

1705. "Friends, no idea can attach to the term 'spirit' from 
which all conceptions of matter are not absolutely excluded. 

1706. "Spirit is immaterial, self-conscious force. 

1707. "Life consists in the animation of matter by spirit. 

1708. "Therefore, beyond the scrutiny of physical senses is 
revolt from exact science; but it is irrational and unscientific 
to deny these facts. 

1709. "You willingly admit that, in view of your present 
notions of the cosmogony, it is impossible to believe that life al- 
ways existed upon your planet. 

1710. "You willingly admit that life on earth must have 
a beginning in time. But yon do not know how it began. Life 
consisting in such mode of motion as the particles of protoplasm 
manifest; and being, therefore, a property of protoplasm and an 
essential or intrinsic quality of mechanical and chemical forces: 
in other words, that life inheres in matter and its manifestation 
the resultant of natural forces, the most profound truth both 
of biology and chemistry. 

1711. "Therefore all substances, including protoplasm, have 
been evolved from nebulous matter, and in the very manner 
claimed is acquired any manifestation of life. Even if life al- 
ways appears in matter thus elevated, it does not follow that the 
result of the process by which matter is fitted to receive life is 
the consequence. And in this case it does not seem to be estab- 
lished, but by the considerations herein presented. 

1712. "This is on a scientific ground, and explains what 
physical and chemical difference there is between the living and 
the dead: for the difference must be physical and chemical only, 
since only physical and chemical forces are admitted to be con- 
cerned in its production. 

1713. "Chemistry and physics finding no difference. So you 
are presented to look here for explanation of the very great differ- 
ence between a thing alive and the same thing dead. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 20. (402.) 

All Is Matter. — All Force Is One. 

1714. "Electricity and magnetism are matter. We are mat- 
ter — but there are two grades of matter. A spirit may be con- 
sidered as refined matter. 

1715. "Numberless organic compounds have been manu- 
factured in the laboratory which differ in no wise from the same 
compounds effected in nature by vital force, excepting those of 
the laboratorv show no trace of life: so that, I should sav, the 



306 RENDING THE TAIL. 

absence or presence of this essence is especially the difference 
between the artificial and natural product, I declare that mat- 
ter alone exists. (1714.) 

1716. "The cosmos is matter in motion, in virtue of its ma- 
terial forces alone. 

1717. "But, the physical forces inherent in matter alone con- 
cerned, the way darkens as we proceed from monad to man. 

1718. "In fact, you know that the physical bodies of all or- 
ganized beings consist of a single cell or of a multitude of cells ; 
each of which is, in effect, an individual plasson-body born of a 
parent like itself — living for a while in the enjoyment of its ap- 
propriate activities, and then dying. 

1719. "Friends, these conceptions do not imply that vital 
force differs from other forms of cosmic energy otherwise than 
as different branches form a stream: for (a) all force is one, how- 
ever diverse ulterior operation ; the (&) kind of force called 'vital' 
being that special potency under the agency of which matter as- 
sumes the form and function of life. 

1720. "Force cannot act where it is not; neither can it 
act with nothing to act upon. Its presence in and operation 
upon matter are, therefore, necessary conditions of these man- 
ifestations. 

1721. "All manifestations of life are, ultimately, resolv- 
able into definite modes of motion, exhibited by living things, 
and by no others. 

1722. "If pressed for a more concise statement, I may turn 
the expression by saying that life-expression is the result of the 
aggregations of matter in consequence of conditions, chemical 
and mechanical, more or less known, existing in matter. 

1723. "No scientist who acknowledges the validity of the 
science of psychology, and no philosopher who recognizes the 
validity of abstract ideas, objects to the word 'mind.' So, there- 
fore, you must be permitted to speak of 'spirit.' (2025.) 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 21. (424.) 

Properties of Protoplasm. 

1724. "You must confess that the originality of your entire 
universe is most startling, even for centuries back it is most 
startling. 

1725. "Now you find this in the materials of character with 
which your natural man is previously provided. 

1726. "Mind and matter go hand in hand. These form the 
basis of spirit life. Look in this direction for the protoplasm of 
spirit life: for it is consistent with all analogy. 

1727. "The lowest or mineral world mainly supplies the 
material for the vegetable kingdom. The vegetable supplies the 



RENDING THE VAIL. 307 

material for the animal. In turn, the animal furnishes the ma- 
terial for the spiritual. 

1728. "Such considerations show that the stone possesses 
the necessary properties of a protoplasm. Therefore, it will be 
necessary to examine, in passing, what these properties are. 

1729. "They are two in number: the capacity for life, and 
plasticity. 

1730. "When you look at this complex combination, which 
you have predicated as the basis of spirit life, you find something 
which gives it a peculiar qualification for being the protoplasm. 

1731. "You ask why this kind of life should be associated 
with this kind of protoplasm ! But why should it not be associated 
with other kinds which seem to resemble it, when, for instance, 
this spirit life be grafted as the intelligence of a dog ,or the in- 
stincts of an ant? 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 22. (433.) 

Religion of Spiritualism Not a Mistake. 

1732. "This religion is not all a mistake. You are not vis- 
ionaries, you are not impracticals, as men pronounce you, in this 
belief ; but you are in strict line with Nature. 

1733. "What men call supernatural is quite natural. 

"The spiritual life is the only life that will ever be completed. 

1734. "Apart from spirit, the life of man is a broken pillar, 
the race of man an unfinished pyramid, and one by one before 
the open grave all human hopes dissolve, and as the vail is lifted 
by Spiritualism it strikes men dumb with wonder. 

1735. "Much difference of opinion as to the reality of soul,, 
but it might be reconciled if disputants could catch each other's 
meaning and agree upon a definition of the term. Many deny 
there to be any such thing. 

1736. "My view defines soul as spirit which any living be- 
ing may or does possess, at any time, the soul quantity of which 
is the amount of spiritual material given up by just the matter 
that makes the body. 

1737. "You can attach no idea to the term 'spirit' from 
which all your conceptions of matter are not excluded. 

1738. "Force is immortal : but nearly all persons recognize 
a distinction between spirit and any mechanical force. 

(Signed) "Denton:' 

No. 23. (456.) 

Mind, Definition of. — But a Higher Manifestation in Spirit Life. 

1738J. "Mind, as the expression of a relation between the 
soul and the body, necessarily disappears when that relation is 
discontinued. 



308 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1739. "But a far higher order of intelligence, volition, and 
will-power is manifested by the spirit in spirit life so soon as sep- 
arated from the physical body. 

(Signed) "Denton" 

No, 24. (471.) 

Force an Emanation of Spirit. 

1800. "You may learn of these things when you discover 
what is matter apart from force : for neither of these things exist 
apart from the other. Then may it not be one in essence, and that 
essence pure spirit? 

1801. "Do you know anything at all? The principle which 
I must necessarily invoke to satisfy the fundamental data of your 
consciousness is equally inscrutable; but it is peculiar that it 
is not known to be manifested except in consequence of itself: or 
to reside long in any one glomeration of gross matter, or to 
ever die. 

1802. "You are bound to consider this as the most direct 
and immediate material manifestation you have of the great 
force. 

1803. "You cannot suppose this will ever be determined 
either to originate in protoplasm or any other material compound, 
or to permanently reside in anything that retains the least vestige 
of materiality. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 25. (496.) 

Spirit Denton Never Idle. — No Limit to Development of Spiritual 

Powers. 

1804. "The mind unfolds slowly but surely upon this line 
of spiritual thought. It rises steadily in this scale until it be- 
comes the great spiritual center of psychological power in your 
civilized world. 

1805. "Since the time that 1 passed from the physical, I 
have never been idle or weary in my labors to institute this 
knowledge to the world of mortals. 

1806. "There is no limit to the development of these spirit- 
ual powers. 

1807. "The fact is that all spiritual beings that have ever 
lived in the mortal form are still existent as thinking beings in 
the spirit world with the power of transmission, and this places 
the question of intercourse between the two worlds upon a very 
practical basis of explanation. 

1808. "The intercourse between the two spheres of intelli- 
gence is as natural upon the plane of similarity as it is for social 
propensities to follow the laws of hereditary transmission. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 309 

1809. "You grasp early what is considered an impossible 
realization of spirit power, for you have accounted these reserve 
forces that belong to the previous stages of spiritual experiences 
as a basis for a future existence. 

1810. "A spirit of selfishness produces disgust upon our 
plane of thought; many thoughts have been transmitted to your 
earth and recorded there as the sure basis of Spiritualism. 

"It will be well to consider, before you accept or reject, the 
better evidences that are in this age of the world. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 26. (505.) 

Evolution More or Less Perfect According to Environments. 

1811. "Friends, you will find that Nature acts in a singular 
manner, to say the least, and the necessaries that hitherto had 
been ample to provide for generation and growth of coming em- 
bryonic life changed their tactics to correspond with the chang- 
ing environments. 

1812. "And still the organization throws from it the seeds 
of a future where conditions will exist for the development. 

1812J. "All life begins here and follows the law of environ- 
ment that determines the grade of development that the em- 
bryo shall receive. If the environment is good, the evolution of 
form and structure is more perfect; but if it be deficient, the spe- 
cies degenerate. 

1813. "Now, in applying these principles to the process of 
the evolution of spirit form, we have a fine explanation of how 
the spirit must be the natural product of evolutionary life, and 
that man must follow the same law. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 27. (539.) 

Man will Understand Creative Power Only as He is Able to Trace to 

Primitive Force. 

1813J. "When this status is reached, and you become capable 
of analyzing these forces and of tracing to primitive force, then 
you will be capable of understanding these forces whereby cre- 
ative power manifests its workings upon your plane amenable to 
human comprehension. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 28. (557.) 

Ignorant Nations of Antiquity Full of Saviors and Miraculous Wonders. 

1814. "What an idea to bring up traditions and expect ra- 
tional men to believe them! The ignorant nations of antiquity 
were full of just such saviors, and revelation of suspension of 
Nature's irrevocable laws. 



310 RENDING THE VAIL. 

1815. "I ask you to produce a case in all the universe in 
which Nature's laws have been suspended. If such a thing could 
be, uncertainty and ruin would ensue. Man, friends, man is like 
any other animal — a compound of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and 
a few other materials, arranged as a battery; veins, arteries, and 
nerves as conductors. 

1816. "When the blood flows harmoniously through the 
brain, you can think freely ; if it flow less forcibly, your thoughts 
become more feeble; and when it stops altogether, life goes out 
like a mist; and then the thinking powers vanish from a lower to 
a higher realm of thought. 

1817. "Religion! How it has cursed the race! Its pathway 
is written in blood and strife. But there are mental and spiritual 
ethers which kindle into action the sublime processes of thought 
and volition, by means of which title man can stand on your little 
earth and yet soar off into the depths of the universe and measure 
the real wheelwork of suns and planets and lay down our laws. 

1818. "What is more wonderful, more sublime than all this? 
There is an infinite eternal world of forces, not visible to the or- 
dinary, but inconceivably beautiful to those whose spiritual vis- 
ion is opened. 

1819. "The ethers of this divine world consist of light and 
atmosphere used by us beings who are too fine in our texture to 
be seen or heard by a great majority of those who still dwell in 
earthly bodies, for the vail of flesh covers their spiritual eye and 
spiritual ear. 

1820. "By these refined elements you are enabled to reach 
the true philosophy of force, the highest and most enduring proc- 
ess of cure to the diseased phvsical svstem. 

(Signed) "Prof. Denton." 

No. 29. (599.) 

Better Wait Fact than Set Lim.it to Mental Power. 

1821. "Do you ask more than this? Shall you hunger in 
the old field and content yourselves with a self-satisfied belief 
in the old traditions? or, upon the other hand, settle into the con- 
viction that the source of ultimate being is unknown? 

1822. "Would it not be wiser to examine the foundations 
of each, and see if, after all, they do not rest upon the substratum 
of ignorance, rather than upon a solid foundation as this doctrine? 

1823. "In fact, would it not be well to reconstruct your opin- 
ions upon a basis of fact, and wait for a more perfect growth of 
mentality before passing judgment upon the limitations of the 
mind, or condemn the effort that the intellect, rightly used, can 
make for the solution of the mysterious unknown? 

1824. "This gives an eternal essence of being which only 
needs the evolution of form and power to present the conscious 



RENDING THE VAIL. 311 

phases, and then it becomes a part of the eternal consciousness 
which belongs to the •universe. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 30. (629.) 

Spiritualism Tends to Prevent Insanity. — Theology Makes Conditions 
to Develop and Even to Cause Insanity. 

1825. "Spiritualism prevents insanity, because the terrors 
of everlasting punishment and the old superstitions with refer- 
ence to devils are done away with, while the new religion of joy 
and demonstrated immortality take their place. 

1826. "Also this knowledge of spiritual and magnetic forces 
enables those who have a tendency toward insanity to check that 
tendency in the start, or even to cure the disease after it is well 
advanced. 

1827. "So fearful are the teachings under the Church with 
reference to devils and evil spirits that, in some of the earlier 
manifestations of spirit power, the people became alarmed and 
presumed that even their dear ones who came as good angels from 
the spirit world to bless them and comfort them were probably 
attempts to throw a baneful influence around them, and a num- 
ber became insane. 

1828. "Spirit control in the churches has been a frequent 
cause of insanity, because of their ignorance of both spiritual and 
physical laws. 

1829. "Those who fall into trances in revivals or camp- 
meetings are supposed to be under the power of the one they call 
God, but they are not under the power of God at all, but under 
the power of the spirits. 

1830. "But their ignorance of how to treat them in that 
state has in nervous cases resulted in insanity or death. Just 
think of it, friends! 

1831. "Spiritualists know how to treat such cases and save 
them from insanity and death. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 30J. (663.) 

Sever the Psychic Ties and Man would Retrograde. 

183H. "If these invisible bonds were severed, the earth 
would be lost in spiritual darkness. There would be no hope 
for the future — no means for progress, and retrogression would 
ensue. If these bonds were severed, on the other hand, we would 
find ourselves without a motive for present work. 

(Signed) "Denton." 



312 RENDING THE VAIL. 

No. 31. (667.) 

Spiritualism Is for the World. — Sets Aside the Central Christian 

Dogma. 

1832. "This work is not for a few, but for many others, but 
for all others, and for all things, past, present, and to what may 
come. Not for itself, but for that which is farthest from itself — 
greatest from a part of all. 

1833. "This breaks down revelation as per orthodox theol- 
ogy, breaks down eternal torments, breaks down suffering for 
triumph, and sets aside the central dogma of the Christian 
religion. 

(Signed) "Denton." 
(See engraving at paragraph 1179.) 

No. 32. (692.) 

This Work Not to Establish a Creed, but to Reveal Individual Spirit 

Experiences. 

1834. "This book is not written for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a creed, but to reveal individual experiences and opinions 

^of life in the spirit world. 

1835. "I have discovered while living here that there are 
several magnetic belts encircling your earth, similar in general 
appearance to the belts that surround the planet Jupiter. 

1836. "Beyond these zones there exists, outside of the 
earth's spirit spheres, a vast spirit world traversing the inner- 
most heart of space like a comet, emitting a vaporous spirit light 
like the nebulous trail of a comet. 

1837. "This grand spirit world pursues its course through 
trackless space, making its circuit and reappearing in the earth's 
atmosphere every day, every hour. 

(Signed) "Denton." 
(See diagrams at paragraphs 1171-1172.) 

No. 33. (709.) 

Spiritualism Demonstrates Orthodox Theology to be Untrue. 

1838. "The earth is becoming more and more spiritual as 
the projections of the magnetic aura ascend into your earth's 
atmosphere. 

1839. "Our mission is to enlighten humanity, and to prove 
^-4hat Christianity as now called orthodox is false from the founda- 
tion up. 

1840. "Who are the people who have, in your country, em- 
braced Spiritualism? The rabble? By no means; but the most 
intelligent and able of all classes. 



REX D IX Q THE VAIL. 313 

1841. "Now, it is very remarkable that when you proceed 
to enumerate the leading men who have embraced modern Spirit- 
ualism, you begin also to enumerate those eminent intellects and 
characters of this and the past ages. 

1842. "Are all these intelligent people likely to plunge their 
heads against a stone wall and run their reputations into an un- 
popular cause without first looking well into it? 

1843. " 'But then/ say the opposers, 'the scientific don't 
affect it.' 

1844. "But let me say that sceintific men of the first stamp 
have examined and reported this as a great fact. Scientific men 
by the hundred have done it, and yet the crowd of opposers go on, 
crying for a scientific man! 

1845. "It is time that all such folly had an end. Oh, my 
good brother or sister, don't trouble yourself that your neigh- 
bors call you crazy, or a fool. You are crazy and a fool in most 
excellent company. All great men of all ages w T ho have intro- 
duced or accepted new ideas were called crazy or fool in the 
eyes of their contemporaries. 

1846. "From the first moment of the appearance of this 
light, it has moved on totally unconcerned and unharmed amidst 
every species of opposition, misrepresentation, lying, and obstruc- 
tion, and yet it has daily and hourly grown and spread and 
strengthened, as if no such evil influence were assailing it. Like 
the tidal wave, it has traveled on in its course unconscious of 
what is beneath it. 

1847. "Friends, the great and good minds of the world 
should be listened to, inasmuch as they have ascended far up 
the mountain of Truth and may be able to reflect a new ray of 
light uoon your own heads from spirit zone. Be grateful to them 
for such light, and drink it in with all enthusiasm, meantime 
building up your own powers until you become more true radi- 
ators of light upon vour earth. 

(Signed) "Denton:' 

1848. Rate, 12 2-3 words per second, or 7G0 words per minute. 

No. 34. (731.) 

Let tlie Altars of Superstition and Ignorance he Abandoned. 

1849. "Dwell no longer, friends, in the darkness of past 
ages. Let the altars of superstition and ignorance be abandoned 
forever. We are not the angels of death, but the harbingers of 
life eternal. 

1849J. "There is not the possibility of any soul becoming 
eternally lost: for we have provided for the redemption and pres- 
ervation of all the children of earth. 

1850. "Think no longer that the soul of man cannot escape 
a ceaseless round of transmigrations ere it can be absolved, for 



314 RENDING THE TAIL. 

it needs no other incarnation than its first to become capable of 
existence in spirit life; and, when you have perfected yourself in 
knowledge to the degree of the intelligence of your great world, 
you can then create and govern a world, and yet maintain your in- 
dividual existence forever. 

1851. "So, let the followers of this great cause call upon 
us for spiritual aid; we will answer you by inspiring you with 
wisdom we have learned since our transition into spirit life. 

1852. "When one has developed upon the spiritual plane, 
then their corresponding senses will convey ideas to the physical 
world; and if the development is very high in the power of sen- 
sitiveness, then you become able to perceive and teach ideas rel- 
ative to the invisible world which are entirely beyond the prov- 
ince of the earthlv senses to perceive or understand. 

(Signed) "Prof. William Benton: 1 

No. 35. (736.) 

Why the Priesthood Turned on Spiritualism. 

1853. "The Christian world at first received this phenomena 
with incredibility and wonder; but, as time elapsed, began to 
regard it with undisguised hostility and open antagonism. 

1854. "The reason of this treatment of great phenomenal 
facts was that the intelligence that came from the spirit world 
refused to endorse the theories of the Christian priesthood as 
spiritual truth, and the latter placed themselves in battle array 
against any attempt to further enlighten the world through such 
a source. 

1855. "So far, I have alluded to the ignorance of the priest- 
hood and the temeritj^ with which they cling to the fabulous 
origin of their God." 

No. 36. (770.) 

Spiritualism Solves Life's Problems on a Basis of Fact. 

1856. "This explains the true nature of spirit, gives you a 
logical demonstrable ground for rational consideration of all 
phenomena which has been the basis of Nature. The question 
of spiritual life can only be solved by scientific investigation. 

1857. "On the other hand, the existence of spirit holding 
the powers of thought and action upon the plane of radiant mat- 
ter gives a perfectly satisfactory explanation of the transfer of 
the mental powers that belong to our life. 

(Signed) (l Prof. Denton." 

No. 37. (775.) 

Knowledge and Wisdom Always Existed. 

1858. "It has been the fashion of most writers to regard 
the human race as distinct from wisdom as an ox. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 315 

1859. "In order to account for the origin of life, I shall 
have to ask those writers to go with me into the realms of spirit, 
and there I can demonstrate to their utmost satisfaction that 
knowledge and wisdom always existed. 

1860. "This proposition may seem as an hypothesis, and in- 
credible, but I have the conviction and it is founded upon abso- 
lute and demonstrable laws of chemical and electrical character; 
and, therefore, I give this with an absolute certainty as to being 
the true solution of the problem of life in all forms. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 38. (781.) 

All Spirits Men and Women. 

1861. "But, in your endeavors to attain organic harmony 
and moral elevation, let it not be supposed that you are always 
left to strive and struggle alone. 

1862. "No. Like ourselves, all spirits were once men and 
women, who lived in corporal organisms, and have walked upon 
your or some other earth which rolls in space — have experienced 
the pleasures and vicissitudes, the joys and sorrows, the tears 
and smiles of your incipient existence. 

1863. "But now, having passed through the transformatory 
process of outer dissolution, which mankind term death, we re- 
side in spirit land, and, in harmony with the immutable laws 
of progression and development, we still march victoriously 
onward. 

1864. "We stand in the gateway between heaven and earth ; 
preventing at once too much doubt: for such facts as these dem- 
onstrate to man that there is a future state ; and, at the same time, 
that man is not the cause of all spiritual phenomena. 

1865. "The hemisphere of the mind is quite as marvelous 
as the counter-hemisphere of voluntary power; and, when truly 
studied, becomes as much a wonder before death as when he 
returns to spirit life. 

1866. "It is evident that many spirits have little knowledge 
of their own abilities to control the influences thrown upon medi- 
ums: and the consequence is that what should be automatic is 
voluntary. 

1867. "You have seen, no doubt, many persons who were 
impressed to address an audience, or to write a poem. The medi- 
um's control would set the machinery in motion and then retire; 
whereupon the medium's mind would take up the operation and 
continue as though it were an unthinking automaton. 

1868. "But here is evidence better: the having one's name 
pronounced by the individual himself. Such moment is sublime, 
because it dispels all doubt and reveals to man the eternal future. 
Our prayer is that all men and women may know this truth and 
be free. 



316 RENDIXG THE VAIL. 

1869. "You can have no idea of the nature and extent of 
punishment some spirits have undergone. Yet there is no hell or 
torture inflicted in the spirit world. Every spirit that comes 
here brings the punishment with him in his own nature. So, 
when a spirit passes from the earth to this world, every trait of 
his or her natural habits, principles, and passions is delineated 
on his spirit features. Therefore his once deceptions are totally 
useless here. 

1870. "You will all be examined as you come here, and then 
placed in society and positions corresponding to your natures 
which you possessed in your earthly life. Oh, my friends, man- 
kind need not think that there is a hell in the spirit world to 
punish the wicked. The wicked will carry with them hells suffi- 
ciently poignant to punish them for all their misdeeds. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 30. (785.) 

Schools in Spirit Life. 

This writing seems to be in conclusion of the spirit's oration 
No. 26. (2129.) 

1871. "Yes, we have schools here, for the development of 
the soul of man, and to teach him his relation to mankind; to 
instruct him in the wonders of the sidereal heavens, impart to 
him knowledge of the inhabitants of the sun, moon, and stars, and 
of the numerous worlds in space occupied by various tribes of 
men ; to aid man, also, in experimenting in chemistry and all other 
branches of science. 

1872. "In this life we can explore the uttermost extent of 
the universe. 

1873. "We can, also, instruct you in political economy and 
laws governing humanity. 

1874. "We also give conditions and means whereby to help 
the unprogressive and helpless portion of mankind. 

1875. "Everywhere, in every region of your globe, or the 
universe, in every stage of intellectual culture, the same source 
of enjoyment is alike to man. 

1876. "The earnest and solemn thoughts awakened by a 
communion with Nature intuitively arises from a presentment 
of order and harmony pervading the whole universe, and from 
the contrast you draw between the narrow limits of your own 
existence and the future. 

1877. "Such results can, however, only be repeated as the 
fruits of observation and intellect confined within the spirit of 
the age in which are reflected all the varied phases of thought 

(Signed) "Denton: 1 



RENDING THE VAIL. 317 

No. 40. (844.) 

Man the Coronation of Nature. 

1878. "Man is the coronation of Nature. He is the highest 
work of Nature; the masterpiece of creation, of life and action; 
an epitome of all known forms and substances; a microcosm of 
all nature. 

1879. "But why is man thus exalted? Why does he stand 
upon the towering apex of the A T isible creation? Is it because 
he is more beautiful than the form of the animal kingdom? No. 
But because of the indwelling principle which has entered the 
whole lineament and given to every feature its beauty and 
expression. 

1880. "The power and perfection of man are gone, and the 
golden plane which causes him to shine superior to all other 
things is extinguished to all outward perception. But what con- 
clusions are you to draw from this fact? 

1881. "In reply will say, you are ashamed to acknowledge 
that man is superior to all other developments in nature, because 
he possesses a grander motive power, a deeper source of feeling, 
and a higher mental organization. His mind is the foundation 
of supremacy. This is the source of his seeming omnipotence. 
He is compounded of all substances and principles which exist 
in the constitution of Nature. 

1882. "Then it must follow that he is the concentration and 
sublimated condensation of all the powers and principles which 
live in the vast organism of your world, if not of the entire- 
universe. 

1883. "Matter and mind have heretofore been supposed to- 
constitute two distinct and independent substances. But it is 
a fact, friends, that Nature is everywhere consistent with herself, 
and that mind is the flower of matter as man is the flower of 
creation. 

1884. "The grain in your fields of to-day may to-mo'rrow 
form a portion of your nerve and muscle; on the third day it 
becomes an element of life. 

1885. "Therefore man is the great reservoir into which all 
powers and substances flow. 

1886. "It is, therefore, a fact that he is, in his physical and 
mental constitution, the source of great motive power and mental 
supremacy. 

(a) "The motive power of the mind is mighty because its 
source is knowledge, (b) and the great mission of the human mind 
as a motive power is to subdue all unwholesome developments 
of the vegetable and animal worlds and change extensive plains 
into gardens of health and comfort, (c) in order that physical man 
may stand upon the topmost round of the visible creation as the 
connecting link betweeen the material and the spiritual. 

(Signed) u T)enton:' 



318 RENDIXQ THE VAIL. 

No. 41. (853.) 

The Power of Mind. 

1887. "Man has the power of ascending higher and higher 
in the scale of knowledge; therefore, as has been shown, is the 
master of all physical creation, the conqueror and disposer of the 
imponderable elements and the great harmonizer. 

1888. "That great innate power which enables man to com- 
prehend the laws and control harmoniously the phenomena of 
the world of matter is mind. It is a clear fact in human history 
that all scientific principles have been accomplished and made 
by a few minds. But, my friends, before mind can display its 
creative and disposing powers in the higher realms of thought 
it must have a broad and scientific knowledge as a basis of more 
exalted superstructures. Physical science leads to intellectual 
science. 

1889. "As we have a better perception and comprehension 
of the innate capabilities of the human mind, we can see how 
this knowledge will lead to universal love and to a scientific 
charity and compassion for every member of the human family — 
which your former generations could neither feel nor practice. 
Eventually mankind will become impressed with the principles 
of universal interest and community of occupations. 

(Signed) "Denton." ■ 

No. 42. (856.) 

Spiritualism Not Investigated because the Clergy Calumniate It. 

1890. "But why does this truth rise up so majestically be- 
fore your minds? And why do we regard this as a great and 
important subject? 

"Simply because we have familiarized your minds with the 
broad and immovable foundation upon which this truth rests, 
and contemplated with an honest heart the innumerable prin- 
ciples which support this edifice. 

1891. "Why do not the scientists view this matter in the 
same light as they do any other? 

"It is because they have never entered and contemplated the 
beautiful possessions of this vestibule which leads out into the 
vast interior department of this truth. 

1892. "Why has not the world investigated this subject in 
a cool and collective manner? Simply because the majority of 
minds believe, or imagine they see, or are told by some clergy- 
man stationed about the threshold of their edifice that there are 
to be found a great many suspicious and dangerous characters, 
whose names are various: Humbug, Deception, Legerdemain, and- 
a host of similar characters whose reputations and characters are 
beyond mention. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 319 

1893. "Clergymen, generally, teach their congregations to 
believe that the only vestibule which leads to heaven and the great 
temple of Truth is the Church. 

(a) "Therefore the attempt to prevent a proper investiga- 
tion of this sublime development which characterizes this era 
of the world's history. 

(b) "They present you the Bible as it is written and read 
by very few professed Christians, and they read around all men- 
tion of any but their own creeds. 

(c) "But by their arguments to legitimate conclusion, you 
must do away with your railroads, magnetic telegraphs, and vari- 
ous methods of printing, because the Bible says nothing concern- 
ing the marvelous productions of your century. 

\d) "But man is admonished to seek out his own salvation, 
and yet especially not to be wise above what is written. Never- 
theless you are admonished of getting wisdom and to increase 
knowledge. 

"Is all that reconcilable? 

(Signed) "~DentonP 

No. 43. (886.) 

Wayside Flowers. — Spirit Retrospection as Looking Back over a Road 
from a Mountain Summit. 

1894. "Friends, the other day I heard some of the circle 
say they thought it would be a good idea for us to give something 
that common people could understand in connection with the 
scientific work. 

{a) "It is our intention to make this Hacher sans taclie! and 
in doing so we expect to gather the modest wayside flowers as 
well as the costly exotics. 

(c) "In breaking wayside blossoms we are near to Nature's 
heart, and there is no power so capable of lifting souls higher 
as the simple but beautiful lessons we can read each day in Na- 
ture's open book. 

1895. "The babbling brook, as it goes singing over the 
stones on its way to join the mighty river, teaches us of the 
eternal law of progression: for is it not aspiring to something 
grander? 

189G. "My friends, did any of you ever climb a narrow 
path up the mountainside? You perhaps found it a little rough 
in making the ascent, but after you reached the summit and 
gazed into the valley below, did you feel repaid for your tiresome 
journey upward? 

(a) "It will be the same when you reach the summit of your 
spiritual growth. You can look down over the valley of your 
past; and it will rest with you whether it will be a barren waste, 
or filled with golden grain and luscious fruits ripening in the sun- 
light of good deeds. 



320 BENDING THE VAIL. 

1897. "Each one in this circle to-night is sowing seed that, 
in after-life, you will re*ap the reward. Whether that reward 
be of good and desirable, or the reverse, will depend upon the 
seed you are sowing. 

(a) "You, too, can gather the wild flowers that are around 
and about you, instead of waiting until you can cultivate hot- 
house plants. By this I mean: Do each day what your hands 
find to do, even if you are not so situated that you can do great 
things. 

1898. "The smallest piece in the mosaic is just as necessary 
as the largest, and without the small piece the work would not 
be a success. 

1899. Words and deeds of kindness have more potency to 
soothe wounded hearts than all of the gold in your land. 

(Signed)" "Denton:' 

1900. This manuscript, No. 43, was executed by the spirit in 
near 2 minutes of time; there are 350 words; near 3 words to 
second. Denton's usual rate ranges from 7 to 10 words per sec- 
ond, but 3 words per second is more rapid than the most expert 
penman in the physical can execute. Hence, even this writing 
is of scientific value. 

(a) The words and composition and symbols and construc- 
tion seem Dentonic. In fact, this essay, No. 43, may be, for aught 
we know, a repetition of something Denton said or wrote while 
in the mortal. 

He now says there is nothing uttered to-day but what has 
been uttered before at some period recent or in ages past, more 
or less remote; and that there is indeed "nothing new under the 
sun." 

No. 44. (896.) 

Believe in, Study, and he Not Frightened at the Truth. 

1901. "Believe in the truth as it is demonstrated to you by 
evidence that proves it to you. We don't want you to believe 
upon faith. Study and investigate. This will be brave. That 
is, be not frightened by the demonstrations. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 45. (1127.) 

Change of Earth's Polarity. 

1902. "Yes, the earth changes its polarity by degrees. The 
process is very slow up to a certain point; then it is very rapid. 
Some spirits tell me that this sudden change is what caused the 
great flood. These spirits say the earth has only changed its 
polarity once since its existence. They offer various reasons for 
this statement. They say the deposits of shells and fossils of 



RENDING THE TAIL. 321 

salt-water fish that you frequently find, even on the tops of high 
mountains, are the result of this change. 

(a) "As this happened many thousand years ago, we have 
no way of proving what they say except by the finds you on earth 
are continually making. 

(b) "In the frigid regions these finds prove to us that what 
they tell us is true. How much proof it will be to you on earth, 
you must determine for yourselves. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 46. (1144.) 

Man's Resistance to New Science or Religion. 

1903. "Man has always, as far back as we can learn, resisted 
the onward march of any new science or religion for fear some of 
the teachings of the new science or religion may come in con- 
flict with some of his own cherished ideas. 

(a) "Prove that he is in error and he will attack you with 
arguments based on that very error. But, one after another, they 
fall from him as the grain falls before the scythe of the reaper - 
and he will be just as stubborn in defense of the new as he was 
in the old. 

(b) "Man should be ready at any time to investigate any- 
thing new that comes before him : for if it be an untruth, he need 
have no fear that the truth will go down before it, and if it be a 
truth, he should investigate and know its teachings thoroughly. 

1904. "As to some other of your questions, we have said 
before in this circle that the God of the Christians is a myth. 
They regard God as a personal being, and when they do this 
they limit His power. 

1905. "God is in and a part of everything that exists. The 
God principle would be a better name than God: for the God 
principle is the good within any living thing. 

1906. "It is just as impossible to see God as it is to see 
gravitation. You can witness the effect of any force, but you 
never see the force itself. 

1907. "You know messages are sent every hour, streets 
are lighted, and cars drawn by the force you call electricity; but 
no one has been able yet to define electricity. Xo one can tell 
you whether it is a solid or fluid. 

1908. "Man, in his ignorance, supposed God was a person, 
a being, little higher than the human; but at this age in the 
world's history it is time for man to reason and know for him- 
self that God is spirit, and not a personal being seated on a 
throne. 

(Signed) "Denton." 



322 RENDING THE VAIL. 

No. 47. (1162.) 

"Survival of the Fittest" 

1909. "All forms of life are dependent on each — the higher 
on the lower, and the lower on the higher. 

1910. "It seems to be a universal law in nature that the 
weak must succumb to the strong. Even in the human family 
this law is unchanged. The weaker in this case is, as a usual 
thing, weaker intellectually. 

1911. "You haye many examples, though, where conquer- 
ing people were very inferior in intellect to those who were con- 
quered, even on your continent. Once this country was peopled 
by superior beings to those inhabiting more recently. 

1912. "As man advances intellectually he retrogrades phys- 
ically. He loses his warlike nature and is more peaceful. 

1913. "This simple fact will account for the extermination 
of many races of people who have lived in the ages gone by. 
After they advanced to a higher state of civilization and the 
art of fighting was lost to them, they were easily conquered by 
a more ferocious tribe of people. 

(Signed) "Denton." 

No. 48. (1178.) 

Zones or Belts Around the Earth. 

1914. "The belts or zones that lie around your earth are 
designed for the habitation of spirits out of the body; and as 
they outgrow the passions of earth and become more refined they 
pass to another or higher zone. 

1915. "Many spirits remain in the first or earth zone for 
years. 

1916. "Spirits from the other spheres or zones try to teach 
them that they must forgive and forget the wrongs of earth in 
order to get out of the place they are in. But many turn a deaf 
ear to all of their teachings, and try to revenge the wrong done 
to them while they were still on earth. 

1917. "The more refined, as a general thing, do not care to 
mingle with such spirits; and if it were not for their love of 
humanity, they would never come into your earth atmosphere. 

1918. "Those whose mission it is to teach the children of 
earth do so gladly, and find their true happiness in the fulfillment 
of their duty. 

1919. "Could you attune your ear to catch the words of 
wisdom of these high spirits, you would indeed be blessed, for 
their wisdom is many times beyond your comprehension. 

(Signed) "Benton." 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 323 

No. 19. (1206.) 

The Soul Builds Its Own Home Relatively to Its Own Pure or 

Impure Desires. 

To the question, "Are all on equality in every way when 
freed from earth and its entanglements?" the spirit writes: 

1920. "No, all souls are not on an equality after they are 
freed from earth and its surroundings. 

(a) "We have said before that justice is meted out to all. 
It would not be justice to compel a good man to associate with 
a bad man. Neither one would be content. Each finds the place 
that is best suited to his former life. His present thoughts and 
aspirations may soon lead him to rise above his past life; and, 
when this change takes place, he goes to the place that is best 
suited to his needs at the time. 

1921. "Your homes in spirit life are just what you would 
desire them to be. They a^e your ideal. 

(a) "You may say that a bad man could have a very beau- 
tiful home; but, friends, he could not: for his soul is not building 
beautiful things. And, no matter how distasteful his surround- 
ings in spirit, he cannot but see and know that they are just. 

(Signed) "Denton." 



CHAPTER V. 



Orations and Vocalizations of Prof. William Denton. 

See the statement ax paragraph 1633. As to how these 
speeches were committed to paper and preserved, see paragraph 
2339. Turn to paragraph 1633 and fix, as far as possible, the ap- 
pearance of this spirit form upon the mind, imagine the words 
being uttered in the most fascinating manner of elocution, and 
the reader is prepared to go on with the orations. 

Oration No. 1. (257.) 

How the Mentality of the Medium Modifies the Phenomena. 

1922. "I must endeavor to be more grave and not so mirth- 
ful, or I will lose my identity. I was not so mirthful habitually, 
but since coming to spirit life mirthfulness got on the sunny side, 
as there is everything here to entice to a supremely joyous state 
of mind." 

1923. Question: "Does the mentality of the medium in 
any way modify the intelligence of the phenomena?" 

1924. Spirit: "Oh yes. We cannot get so independent of 
the medium as to be entirely free from influence of his men- 



324 RENDING THE VAIL. 

tal capacity; and culture also modifies the mentality of the 
phenomena. 

1925. "Then, sometimes, we have not full control of the 
medium. In this case there is apt to be more of the medium's 
identity in the phenomena, and less of that of the spirit in propor- 
tion as the spirit has less than complete control ; and this is the 
case in every phase of the phenomena. 

1926. "The spirit has to use the mental aura of the medium 
as the channel through which to express thought to mortals. 

No. 45. (1127.) 

1927. "Therefore, however exalted the thought of the an- 
gel, it must be expressed in a manner between the mentality of 
the spirit and that of the medium, and the mode of expression 
must be nearer to that of the medium in proportion as the spirit 
does not possess control of the medium, and vice versa. 

1928. "So, kind friends, you may readily see what kind of 
mediumistic intellectual development would be necessary to af- 
ford the proper channel for the unadulterated thought of a Lord 
Bacon, in spirit life, to be transmitted to mortals. And yet, the 
purporting intelligence may be the veritable Lord Bacon, whether 
the message be through a clear or muddy channel. 

1929. "If you will study this matter a little, you will soon 
learn that there is not so much mispersonification of identity as 
there is ignorance, on your part, of the laws governing intercourse 
between the two worlds." 

Oration No. 2. (267.) 

.The Resurrection. — Spirits from Other Planets may Visit This. 

1930. "We will combat all the elements arrayed against 
you. 

"Your world is a great world; but it is inhabited by a curi- 
ous people: devils, monkeys, hyenas, and the like. 

1931. "I used to speak in school-houses about, on little 
themes, and sometimes on 'Immortality,' but I could not prove it 
then. Now I can demonstrate that, though the body fall away as a 
putrid, sickening mass of corruption, the man, the woman, the 
dear little child, lives on beyond, free from and above it all, with 
prow aloft and sails unfurled on the great ocean of eternal illimit- 
able immensity of life." 

1932. "The resurrection? That gives me a subject. I never 
like to speak without a subject. 

"When your spirit leaves the body, when the 'silver chord 
is loosed' (soto speak), is broken, you rise out of the old body of 
flesh and blood, never again to inhabit that body. This, my 
friends, is the great, the mysterious resurrection." 

1933. "Certainly spirits from other planets come 'down the 



READING THE VAIL. 325 

shining highway' as well as we. They do not come so often as 
we, for the reason that they, in personality, are not, and cannot 
be, known to you. You knew us before we left the mortal, and 
so we come the oftener, being better adapted to prove to your 
world our continued existence, and to make revelation concern- 
ing your future. 

1934. "But sometimes spirits do visit you from other plan- 
ets. That venerable old sage of the immortal world, Father King, 
is from another planet. He first visited your earth twenty thou-, 
sand years ago, and has occasionally called this way ever since. 
I have had the pleasure of being escorted by him to some of the 
other planets. 

1935. "These great highways over which intelligences travel 
lead both ways to them." 

1936. "The Atlanteans? They come down from other 
planets." 

(Here we would infer that they have taken up their abode 
at and have made some other planet or planets their home.) 

Oration No. 3. (285.) 

Spiritualism the Only Enduring Science. — The Identity. 

1937. "I am glad to be able to appear in this way and talk 
with you. 

"This is William Denton saying to you: Go on in this great 
work. You will all be rewarded in this sphere. Go on and help 
to let the world know something of the glories awaiting souls 
that are sufficiently able to be themselves instead of 'automa- 
tons' moved about by a designing, crafty priesthood." 

1938. "In regard to geology? Whatever value learned men 
on earth may consider it, it is of little consequence on this side 
of life. 

1839. "Spiritualism is the only science that is enduring, 
that is food for the soul during illimitable eon. 

"Geology is all right. Many of the so-called sciences or 
branches of science are all right; but what little of Spiritualism 
they contain is all upon which you can feed when your old cloth- 
ing is gone back to geologic rocks. 

"Over here our food is Spiritualism for breakfast, Spiritual- 
ism for supper, Spiritualism for dinner and dessert. The only way 
to become truly scientific is to pass to the schools of spirit life. 

1910. "Because some of us do not all the time talk of proto- 
plasm, and that, too, in the most abstruse chemical nomencla- 
ture that Noah Webster himself could not understand, we are 
thought to be somebody else. 

1941. "No, dear friends. It is our business to prove to the 
world, as best we can, that there is future life, and reveal to mor- 
tals in as simple a way as possible the nature of that life and 
the relations of the mortal to the spirit side of life. 



326 READING THE VAIL. 

1942. "I have known your secretary to muse to himself 
whether it ever would occur again to hear William Denton speak 
as he is now speaking. I am William Denton now, and you, Mr. 
Secretary, will be yourself when you get over here. But to an- 
other you will be somebody else, just according as the glasses 
through which you are seen." 

Oration No. 4. (338^.) 

A Wonderful u Multum in ParvoT 

The spirit uses allegations of a magnetic healer as a text for 
discussing the whole matter of the science of healing. The spirit 
said: 

1943. "Mr. Secretary, get your paper and pencil ready to 
note what I may now say. 

(a) "That gentleman that lectured at the hall last evening, 
like the originators of the priesthoods in all the ages, somewhat 
arrogantly sets up that his controls are God and God's hierarchy 
of angels, while the controls of all or most all others are, unfor- 
tunately, low, degraded, God-forsaken, vicious, lying, unreliable, 
malevolent. 

(b) "Theories you have had in religion, science, and social- 
ism, to the ruin, almost, of your country. The theorists strike a 
theory, set themselves up as ex-Gods, and all others fools. 

(c) "Now, friends, it will be found upon the facts in the 
case, that the Doctor is all wrong as to cause of disease; and, 
therefore, the impression he desires to leave upon the people's 
minds all wrong as to its cure. 

1944. "He tells you that the cause of disease is in the ner- 
vous system, the nervous circulation; and that all that is neces- 
sary to restore health is to restore the circulation of the nervous 
fluid; and that, to do that, all that is necessary is the touch of 
a magnetic healer like Jesus of Nazareth, or some one of his duly 
commissioned vicars — a la the pontifical see. 

(a) "But fact is what you want. A fact is worth a thou- 
sand theories. 

(b) "Facts may be hidden or obscured for a long time by 
designers, or cowards; but, ultimately, drive theories into obliv- 
ion, and theorizers and cowards onto back seats. Now the fact 
in this case is that 

1945. "Infringement or non-proper use of natural law is 
the cause of disease. 

(a) "Whoever either ignorantly or knowingly breaks nat- 
ural law of his being must suffer the natural penalty therefor. 

1946. "Disease is the natural penalty of infracted law, and 
is by Nature intended as disciplinary. 

1947. "It is true that the skin is filled with millions of pores 
— excretory organs. 



RENDIXG THE VAIL. 327 

1948. "It is true that proper bathing is a very essential 
assistant of these organs in the performance of their functions. 

1949. "But it is also true that improper bathing may 
weaken, or even entirely paralyze the functions of these exere- 
tories, so that the effete dead matter, that should be thrown off or 
out of the system by these excretories, is deposited as corruption 
in other organs and parts of the body and causes their improper ac- 
tion — or it may cause over-exertion of other excretories, giving us 
kidney trouble, diabetes, dysentery, diarrhea, etc., etc., or clog- 
ging of the lungs, which we call cold, pneumonia, or some other 
name, according to degree and location of disease. 

1950. "We may be very warm and freely perspiring — the 
pores of the skin working nicely; we, unluckily, get into a cool 
current of air; these excretory valves and glands are thereby 
chilled so as to impair their efficient action, as in the case of 
chill from improper use of the bathing-tub. 

1951. "This is sufficient to show that in many, very many 
of the various ailments of man the primary cause is not nervous 
disturbance; but the nervous disturbance, if at all, is only second- 
ary, and sometimes remote; and sometimes the disease is the 
cause of the magnetic, electric, or nervous disturbance. 

1952. "Very many diseases, or, we might say, forms of dis- 
ease, are primarily caused by absorption of bacteria. This is 
greatly the case in contagions. 

1953. "Water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen gases 
in certain proportions. 

1954. "Remove the oxygen, or a portion of it, and it is not 
good to sustain life. 

1955. "Mix with the water certain poisonous ingredients, 
and you cannot, in that state, partake of it without diseasing 
the system. Remove the impurities, restore the natural condition 
of pure water, and it is again good as a life-sustainer. 

1955^. "The brain is the great engine used by the spirit for 
control of the body. 

1956. "The nerves are telegraph lines connecting the brain 
with the various stations — bodily organs; but the nerves are not 
the brain. 

1957. "The brain is not in the heel, toes, or fingers; but is 
an organ of itself, to control the body. 

1958. "In the brain is the throne of spiritual action. The 
spirit builds the house — clothes itself with the body — more or less 
perfect, as the conditions under which it is permitted to act are 
perfect. 

1959. "It is the spirit that has control, if control there be, 
of the bodily vital forces, and it uses the refined electric and 
magnetic forces to do its bidding in the management, building, 
or repair of its house or machine. 

1960. "The healing power is with the spirit that owns the machine. 



328 BENDING THE VAIL. 

1961. "The spirit may be assisted by other spirits. 

1962. "External forces may remove impediments or assist 
therein. 

1963. "Proper application of water may remove impedi- 
ments to the proper action of the pores of the skin. It may be 
used to absorb a superabundance of caloric, either general or 
local, so that the spirit can again control. 

1964. "Human magnetism may be used to remove magnetic 
obstructions and to assist in reestablishing the nervo-magnetic 
mental connections. But it is spirit magnetism in the hands of 
wise and beneficent spirits that is the greatest assistant to the 
spirit in regaining a lost or partially lost control of the body or 
a part of it. 

1965. "Sometimes these healers in spirit life use another 
organisui to assist in reaching the so-called diseased one, and 
use the magnetic and spiritual forces of this medium to a won- 
derful degree of efficacy in many cases. 

1966. "By and by, when the laws of health and the laws 
of the restoration of lost health are better understood, the greater 
portion of materia medica will be banished as a demon to the 
race." 

Oration No. 5. (343.) 

(Continuation of No. 4.) 

What and How Circulates the Blood. — The Two Sets of Blood-Discs. — 

Their Use. 

1967. "You know, from reading, that water is composed of 
oxygen and hydrogen gases. 

1968. "You also know that by the process of decomposition 
of water you obtain electricity. These two propositions you all 
know or may know to be facts. 

1969. "Now oxygen is one form of electricity, called posi- 
tive electricity. 

1970. "Hydrogen is another form of electricity, called by 
your scientists negative electricity. 

1971. "Magnetism is this negative electricity. 

1972. "The tremendous power in Nature's compounds, 
called chemical affinity, is due to the union or attempt at union 
of positive and negative electricity, concentered in the atoms 
composing the different so-called elements of the compound. 

1973. "Chemical affinity is the affinity of electricity and 
magnetism for each other. 

1974. "Electricity and magnetism is matter in its simplest 
yet highest or greatest degree of atomic activity. 

1975. "But beyond the electro-magnetic is yet a greater de- 
gree of eliminated, refined, atomic activity, which is the realm 
of spirit. 

1976. "Electro-magnetism, in their true equilibrium, is the 



RENDING THE VAIL. 329 

dwelling-place of spirit and the connecting link between spirit 
and the material compounds of the various degrees of atomic 
activity. 

1977. "Electricity and magnetism are the male and female 
elements in the universe. 

1978. "From the oxygen of the air, by pulmonic process, 
the blood gets electricity. 

1979. "From the hydrogen of the water, by the digestive 
process, the blood gets magnetism. 

1980. "The oxygen of the water is absorbed by the iron of 
the blood and by the nitrogen of air partly mixed with the blood 
at the lungs, and partly the nitrogen of the food taken into the 
stomach, forming flesh compound. 

1981. "Hydrogen and carbon forming fatty compounds. 

1982. "One set of blood-discs (a) are electric, (&) the other 
magnetic. 

1983. "The electric discs have an affinity for the magnetic 
discs w T hen out of equilibrium. 

1984. "But at the lungs they are in equilibrium, and hence 
repel each other to the left auricle, then into the left ventricle — 
the valves preventing back-flowing; this repulsion of the discs to 
each other must carry the whole crimson mass forward, while the 
equilibrium is maintained, to the capillaries. 

1985. "The electro-magnetic equilibrium of the twe sets of 
discs is lost in the capillaries and becomes less and less to right 
auricle. 

1986. "Of these discs, the one set of discs nearer the heart, 
because of inequilibrium, attracts the ones next behind all the 
way from the capillaries into the right auricle, where, by electric 
action from the brain in moving the heart to contraction, the 
equilibrium is again partially established. 

1987. "Now the two sets of discs repel each other to the 
lungs, and through the pulmonary capillaries, where the equilib- 
rium is more perfected, so that the repulsion of the discs carries 
the blood into the left auricle. 

1988. "Thence by muscular action into left ventricle, and 
by muscular action into aorta. 

1989. "The heart, being also in equilibrium to arterial blood 
and positive to venous, attracts. 

1990. "Electricity is cold. 

1991. "Magnetism is warm. 

1992. "There are two kinds of healing: (a) Electric and 
(b) magnetic, and there is also (c) electro-magnetic. 

1993. "Hence, a lost equilibrium where magnetism is de- 
ficient may be restored by impartation from the magnetic healer. 

1994. "Deficiency of electricity may be restored by imparta- 
tion from the electric healer. 

1995. "Hence, again, a healing medium good for one organ- 
ism may not benefit another. 



330 REND IX a THE TAIL. 

1996. "But the greatest healing medium is one having large 
capacity for electro-magnetism with an aura about him approach- 
able by supra-intelligences, who are able to discern the needs of 
the patient, to extract from the medium the necessary elements, 
and apply them, in the needed manner, to the patient. 

1997. "It requires spirit to discern and apply the necessaries 
to reestablish lost control of the spirit over its 'tabernacle- or 
any portion thereof. 

1998. "Here, friends, you have a partial philosophy of the 
healing by laying on of hands, and how it is that simple touch, 
or rubbing, or even aural contact, sometimes, may be followed, 
immediately, by complete equilibrium of life forces and sudden 
recovery of patient — sometimes called miraculous. Here, too, the 
reason that of two physicians using same medical treatment in 
a given case, one succeeds after the other fails, and why the one 
is, in general, more successful than the other. 

"Now, Mr. Secretary, please give me a subject, and I will 
continue on a little longer." 
Secretary: "Trance." 

1999. Spirit: "I understand you desire that I should say 
something about that apparently abnormal condition called 
^trance.' Sometimes it is called catalepsy, and sometimes it is 
mistaken for epilepsy. 

"The trance affects persons at different times, and different 
persons in different ways. 

2000. "The trance is a magnetic inflowing from spirit life. 

(a) "It may affect all, or a part only, of the organism. 

(b) "It may flow into the subject by the head, feet, arms, or 
side. 

(c) "You may be almost completely entranced — that is, 
under control of a spiritual influx, and not be aware of the fact. 

(d) "You may feel entirely normal. 

(e) "Some of your noblest men have given forth their nobil- 
ity while unconsciously entranced. 

(/) "The world is more indebted to the angelic hosts than 
It is aware of. 

(q) "We do not come down the shining highway for noth- 
ing, for no purpose, but to do you good. 

2001. "It is as much our duty to-day to 'go and preach to 
spirits in prison' as it ever was that of any person, being all 
anointed (made Christs) for that purpose." 

Oration No. 6. (351.) 

Italy. — Nebulae. — The Nebular Hypothesis. — Origin of Cosmic Rotary 

Motion. 

2002. "Friends, I am here in your midst. It is only the ig- 
norant — unfortunately, there are many persons of that class— 



RENDING THE TAIL. 33 L 

who refuse to investigate phenomena not in harmony with their 
prejudices." 

Question: "What about the threats of Italy?" 

2003. Spirit: "So far as Italy is concerned, it makes no 
difference to the United States of America what she may 
threaten. She could not leave home and whip a single United 
States squadron. Her threats are all for buncombe. She de- 
mands of the United States certain concessions, which the 
United States will never consent to. You need have no fears of 
Italy alone. 

(a) "What scientific subject would you have discussed this 
evening, Mr. Secretary?" 

(b) Secretary: "Nebulae." 

(c) Denton: "I suppose you would like to have me speak 
something about the nebulae at this time?" 

(d) Secretary: "If it be your good pleasure so to speak."' 

2004. Denton: "I have learned more about such things 
since coming to spirit life, and know much more in regard thereto 
than I did twenty-five years ago, though I have much yet to learn. 
All that 1 formerly knew was mere theory. And a great deal that 
your scientific people on earth to-day promulgate as science is 
not science, but mere theory. Much of the theorizing may be 
correct, but they do not know that it is true from the facts id 
the case. Hence, is only theory. 

(a) "I uow have the happy privilege to know some of the 
facts in this case and speak from these facts. 

2005. "Go with me into spirit life, and you will be able to 
discern some of these far-away appearances called nebulae, and 
you will see that mauy of them, if not all, visible by means of your 
best space-penetrating auxiliaries, are clusters of suns and solar 
systems. So many myriads of them within the compass of the 
single vision look like dust, and hence you call them star-dust. 

2006. "But in the range of spirit vision will be innumerable 
fields of fire-mist so far in the plasmatic state as to begin to con- 
crete into solar system shape. This solar system protoplasm is 
vast eons of ages anterior to the time fixed by your scientists for 
its apnearanee as life protoplasm along the line of evolution. 

2007. "The law of atomic action is also the law of the rev- 
olution of planets, suns, and systems. 

"Atoms in close proximity revolve about each other by means 
of a central force called chemical action, which action is the 
direction of an endless chain. The positive atom, or electric atom 
(the male element), has an affinity for, and attracts toward itself, 
the negative, magnetic, or female atom, which, by the law of at- 
traction and repulsion, travels in the endless chain route or orbit 
about the positive atom; but, the law of motion being in straight 
lires, when the negative atom approaches near to the positive, the 
positive is drawn toward the negative, so that the atoms ap- 



332 RENDING THE TAIL. 

proaching each other in straight lines, meeting, form an electro- 
magnetic compound — the negative side attracting positive atoms 
is drawn toward a negative atom approaching. The attractive 
influence of the atoms of the single compound balancing each 
other, motion is given to each atom around a common center at 
their tangents, and thus rotary motion of the compound is estab- 
lished and aggregation of atoms commenced, the aggregation all 
the while assisting in the same philosophical manner to continue 
the rotary motion along the line of the endless chain. The rap- 
idity of the rotary motion of the compound decreases as size 
increases. 

2008. "A union of a positive and negative atom forms a 
molecule in which exists the life beginning; which by continued 
transmutations is unfurled into man, climaxed into highest an- 
gelhood. Along the endless chain of evolution are little niches 
as reservoirs; here the rain, there the snow; here this form of life, 
there that, retained in the niches. 

2009. "From spirit life you would see in each planet resem- 
blances of pinholes by the myriad, each of which may be a start- 
ing-point for the manifestation of life. One point as well as an- 
other may be the beginning point." 

Oration No. 7. (382.) 

Appearance to Spirit Vision of Remote Space. — Mediumship. — Spirit 

Photography. 

2010. "There are but few of you here at this time, but very 
many from our side are present. 

"My brother Reed made a statement with which I altogether 
agree. 

"As to your question, will say: 

2011. "Photography, especially spirit photography, is a deep 
subject, and it would be very difficult to explain to the under- 
standing of any person in the mortal. But in this, let me say, 
you are the negative while you are surrounded by electrical cur- 
rents for the positive. 

2012. "You look away toward the heavens of an unclouded 
sky, at evening, and behold myriads of beautiful silver shining 
gems gloriously sparkling in the all-encompassing dome of the 
dark night, while to us those same shining points are immense 
globes — vast suns to immense systems bearing life, life, sentient 
life. All moving in their destined rounds, rolling upon our souls 
the sweetest symphonies of eternal grandeur. 

2013. "As you increase your power of vision by artificial 
means you have opened to your view new fields of solar systems 
in the far-away regions of vast immensity; but by no artificial 
means do you, because of their great distance from you, behold 
them but as specks of glittering dust upon the floor of the heavens. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 333 

2014. ''But, when freed from the mortal and your dim 
earthly vision becomes exchanged for that of archangels, your 
unobstructed spiritual vision will penetrate so far into space that 
no point but what some radiant mighty globe will be in vision 
range. 

2015. "Thus the bound of vision is one brilliant concave of 
shining globes for our eternal study. 

2010. "And, on the other hand, while your vision may be 
assisted by artificial means to survey very minute particles of 
matter and forms of life, yet the freed spirit can see down to the 
very atom and behold the dawn of life itself. 

2017. "Magnetic and electric currents are as perceptible 
to our vision as little rills or large streams of water to your vision. 

2018. "We can see your bodies filled with millions of little 
electro-magnetic pores, or tubes, never recognized by mortal, 
from which continually emanate magnetism, electricity, and 
electro-magnetism, as resultants from continual chemical action 
in your systems. 

2019. "Your bodies, even yourselves, are composed of chem- 
icals. Now, your scientists, by studying and experimenting with 
chemicals and electricity, are enabled to produce, to a limited ex- 
tent, certain voluntary results proportionate to the knowledge 
and experience of the operator as to the laws governing; but can 
produce no results only according to the natural law of the case; 
but, by the law, according to his knowledge and skill, may produce 
voluntary modifications. 

2020. "So in this life we have scientists, who, by their 
knowledge and skill as to the laws of spirit chemistry, are enabled 
to produce and project ba^k to mortal perception certain modi 
fications showing continued life and personality of the real be- 
ing called a spirit. 

2021. "Spiritual chemicals from the mortal plane must nec- 
essarily be used by the spirit scientist to make the spirit form 
perceptible to the senses of the spirit while in the mortal. 

2022. "Those mortals giving off or radiating certain suit- 
able spiritual chemicals are necessary from whom for spirits to 
obtain such emanations; such persons are called mediums. 

2023. "Spirit photography is the most delicate of all phases 
of mediumship. The condition of the atmosphere, of the mind, 
and health, and chemical equilibrium of the medium, of the chem- 
icals, the plate, and the want of skill, on your side — any one or 
all of these may greatly modify an effort, though ever so good on 
our part. But you are succeeding here. Great changes are tak- 
ing place. 

2024. "Altogether man is a queerly constructed being. Yoa 
cannot tell your own structure. The motions, the currents, the 
affinities of particle for particle of matter in and about your 
structure give it the appearance to spirit eye of millions and 



334 RENDING THE TAIL. 

millions of little wheels, of little chains and cogs. Over here we 
see more facts than with our obstructed earthly sight; but no 
one has ever yet been able to fully illustrate man." 

Oration No. 8. (409.) 

Thought is so Material that It Makes an Indelible Stamp Somewhere 
Which May be Read by Enlightened Spirits in All the Future. 

2025. "All that there is, is matter. Nothing exists that is 
not matter. Spirit is matter — refined matter. Both matter and 
spirit always existed. 

2026. "Thought is matter. So material is thought that 
it makes its impress upon something, somewhere, and is indel- 
ible; and highly refined spiritual beings are enabled to see the 
thoughts of the past ages as they find them stamped upon the 
sensitive pages of Nature's great book. 

2027. "Life commenced in the atom. 

2028. "Spirit commenced with spirit atom. However, 
neither one can truly be said to have had commencement — both 
eternal, in eternal union, eternally inhered life. 

(a) "What we mean by beginning in the atom is that that 
is where we begin our conceptions of matter, spirit, and organic 
form and life. 

(b) "Time nor finite modes can trace life to actual begin- 
ning, for from the atom our reason informs us life is due to eternal 
union of the male and female elements in the atom; thus the 
atom is dual and from spirit, and spirit is from the atom. 

"This may seem as strange as Athanasian mathematics, but 
certainly is as true. I have elsewhere shown that atom is closely 
allied to protoplasm. 

2029. "Let me repeat: 

(a) "Matter always existed. 

(b) "Spirit always existed. 

(c) "Life always existed. 

(d) "There is no beginning. 

(e) "There is no end. 

(f) "Only change in mode of motion. 

2030. "Compounds and individualities and personalities con- 
sist of such atomic union as possess harmonious modes of motion 
in the given organism. 

2031. "Everything is composed of matter and spirit, and 
consequently possesses life within itself. That chair is composed 
of matter and spirit, and therefore has life. 

2032. "But the mode of atomic activity does not manifest 
the energy you call life ; hence you call it dead. 

2033. "Spirit, of itself, is not an entity; neither is the ma- 
terial atom, so to speak; but the mode of motion produced by 
the union of the positive and negative or male and female ele- 



RENDING THE TAIL. 335 

ments in the atom constitutes it the life atom, or monad, and the 
entity. 

2034. "The male and female may be considered prime ele- 
ments, yet they cannot exist independent of each other. 

2035. "That carpet does not wear out — its atoms change 
their mode of motion to greater activity; hence you call them 
volatilized ; but your carpet, every atom of it, always was, always 
will be. 

2036. "I will now try to write." 

Being still in the attitude of holding the tablet in his left 
hand, the spirit moved his right hand over the tablet as if writ- 
ing, and continued, at the same time, to talk; and, when done, we 
found that what he said he had also written. (See his writing No. 
20, at par. 1714.) 

Oration No. 9. (421.) 

The Gulf Stream. — Ocean Currents. — Northern Lights. — Cyclones. — 

Microbes. — Solar Heat. — Sun Spots. — Sun Inhabited. — 

All Space Organized. 

Spirit Prof. William Denton stood forth a little outside the 
cabinet door, saying in a very loud voice : 

2037. "Mr. Secretary, Mr. Walser put into the question-box 
a number of questions; if you will get them out and read them, 
one at a time, I will answer them. If I do not get them all this 
evening, I will continue at other meetings till all are answered. 

(a) On being asked if he could shake hands with some of 
us, he held out his hand to one of the circle, who took hold )f 
the hand and gave it a good hearty shake. He then called a 
little boy of thirteen to come up and shake hands, and the spirit 
and little boy had a good lively shaking of hands. 

(5) As the secretary passed by the spirit to the question-box, 
to obtain the questions, the spirit reached out his hand, caught 
the hem of the coat of the secretary, and gave such show of force 
as to oscillate the secretary's body. 

(c) When the sceretary had obtained the questions and re- 
turned to his seat at his note desk, the spirit said: 

(d) "Well, have you those questions?" 

(e) Secretary: "Yes, sir." 

{f) Spirit: "Well, read the first one." 

(g) Secretarv: "What is the cause of the Gulf Stream?" 

2038. Spirit': "What is the cause of the Gulf Stream? 

(a) "Well, in some respects that seems a simple question; 
but in other respects it may be very difficult. 

(b) "The prime cause of the Gulf Stream was that at one 
time there was a sea, or seas, shut up inland, and a submergence 
caused by an electric convulsion partly broke the barrier to the 
south, and washing of waters finished the removal of the barrier 
and emptied into the gulf a whole sea of water; and the waters, 



336 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

after that, washed for themselves little and large channels, con- 
verging and draining by a mighty river the once floor of that 
great sea." 

(This evidently refers to the Mississippi Valley. — Sec.) 
Spirit: "Well, a similar occurrence of subsidence on the 
other side of the gulf let the waters of the tropics, that pile up 
by centrifugal force and partly by electrical action, meet the 
waters of the former sea. The two forces meeting from opposite 
directions modify their courses to a different direction, and their 
course determined and kept up by the same philosophy as the 
circulation of the blood, being determined by the abundance or 
absence of the electro-magnetism of the water traversed to that 
of the traversing water. You can study out the balance. 
"Read the next question.*' 

2039. Secretary: "What causes ocean currents?" 

(a) Spirit: "Very much the same as the cause of the Gulf 
Stream: electrical action and the law of chemistry. 
"Read the next.'' 

2040. Secretary: "The aurora borealis?" 

(a) Spirit: "Caused by heat, electrical and chemical 
actions. 

(b) "Not from the sun, but from the earth, and in the 
atmosphere." 

2041. Secretary: "Mirage?" 

This was not fully answered. The spirit seemed to lose con- 
trol of his form, and returned to the cabinet for' additional 
make-up. 

(a) Question 5, as to causes of rain and how precipitation 
may be increased in dry districts, was answered by another, 
elsewhere. (See paragraph 281G.) 

(b) Spirit Denton reappeared, but in the arena, and there 
in all his fullness of speech exclaimed: 

(c) "Give us vour next question." 

2042. Secretary: "Cyclones?" 

(a) Spirit: "Electro-magnetic currents. Two forces meet 
— one positive, the other negative. 

(b) "The rotary motion is made on the same principle as 
described for the origin of cosmic rotary motion. (2004-2009.) 

(c) "Here some will say, 'There is danger of planets meet- 
ing and bursting asunder,' but that can never be, for long before 
one planet would fall into another by attractive forces, equilibrium 
would be established, and the law of repulsion would save the 
wreck of worlds by collision." 

2043. Secretary: "Microbes?" 

(a) Spirit: "Well, what do you know about microbes, Mr. 
Secretary?" 

(b) Secretary: "I know but little about them?" 

(c) Spirit: "What is that little?" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 337 

(d) Secretary : "The little that I know is what I have heard 
that some person has said about it." 

(e) Spirit: "What have you heard that anyone ever said 
about it?" 

(f) Secretary : "I have heard it said that some microscopists 
have discovered exceedingly small specimens of animal life in 
vast numbers in the blood, and that they suppose these speci- 
mens to be actual animals." 

2044. Spirit: "You may call them microbes or little ani- 
mals, if you wish, but they are not such ; they are the very atomies 
manifesting life on their road, in the blood, to their appropriate 
position as part of the organism, to ultimate refinement into 
spirit and spiritual uses. 

2045. "Sometimes your blood carries more of these life 
atoms than it can properly deposit ; then you are sick in the effort 
at eauilibrium. 

2046. "Sometimes your blood does not carry enough of the 
life atoms; then vou grow emaciated and feeble." 

2047. Secretary: "Solar heat?" 

(a) Spirit: "Chemical combustion." 

2048. Secretarv: "Is the sun a ball of fire?" 
(a) Spirit: "Yes." 

2049. Secretary: "Sun spots?" 

(a) Spirit: "That has been answered. Pass it now." 

2050. Secretary: "Is the sun inhabited?" 
(a) Spirit: "Yes; same as your earth." 

2051. Secretarv: "Is there anv space unorganized?" 
(■a) Spirit: "No." 

2052. Secretary: "Is man a separate creation, or is he 
evolved from lower animals?" 

(a) Spirit: "Evolved from, or, rather, through the lower 
forms of life." 

2053. Secretary: "When, where, and how did man first 
have an entity?" 

(a) Spirit: "Answered before." 

2054. Secretary: "Is there a God?" 

(a) Here the spirit said: "I will turn that over to another." 
As Denton vanished one like unto spirit Thomas Paine stood 
in Denton's stead, and repeated the qestion in very strong em- 
phatic speech, making, in answer, his oration No. 6. (2356-2368.) 

Vocalization No. 10. (429.) 

Character in Spirit Life. 

"Mr. Secretary, please give me a subject." 

2055. Secretary: "The rainbow." 

(a) Denton: "In the first place, let me say to our young 
friend [Mr. Lamb], in answer to a question he was discussing to- 
day, as to what character we have in spirit life: 



338 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2056. "My friends, we pass to spirit life with exactly our 
earthly evolution; and use the same faculties used in earth life. 
And the faculties you do not cultivate on earth you have to cul- 
tivate and develop here sooner or later. 

(a) "If we come here with cultivated musical talent, we use 
it here same as on earth ; but if we do not have it, we must cul- 
tivate it, same as on earth. 

(b) "The mind is everlasting force — indestructible. 

(c) "Young friend, music is your forte. You possess the 
musical faculties without cultivating. You have a band here, 
a host, who can assist you greatly in this line. If you give up to 
the angel world, they will take care of you and see that success 
be yours ultimately. 

(d) "As to the rainbow, it seems to me that subject was 
discussed the other evening when speaking of the prismatic 
colors, and all we need do now is to apply that philosophy to 
the rainbow, and we have the subject sufficiently treated." 

Oration No. 11. (461.) 

Cause of Magnetic Needle Polarity, Variation, and Dip. 

2057. "The cause of the needle polarity is that electric cur- 
rents flow south and magnetic currents flow north. 

(a) "Magnetic currents come in from the south warm. 

(b) "The magnetic needle stands parallel to the currents. 

(c) "But the axis of the earth is not parallel to the electric 
and magnetic currents. 

2058. "The magnetic currents come into the earth, from 
space, perpendicularly to the equator, pass to the poles, and radi- 
ate into space. 

2059. "The electric currents come from space perpendicular 
to earth's surface at the poles, and radiate from earth at the 
equator. 

2060. "These currents from north to south and from south 
to north are deflected more or less in their course by local geo- 
logic structure, and hence in such localities such deflection causes 
the variations." 

Oration No. 12. (463.) 

Unconscious Cerebration. 

2061. Secretary: "Unconscious cerebration?" 

(a) Spirit: "A good subject. There is a wonderful law 
there. 

(b) "That subject has been mentioned before. 

(c) "You are much more influenced by outside power than 
you generally suppose. Sometimes, when in that state, you think 
you are sick. 



i RENDING THE TAIL. 339 

(d) "There are none but what are more or less influenced 
by spirit. Every one, in fact, is influenced by some spirit power. 

2062. "Now let me say, there is truth in the doctrine of 
obsession. 

(a) "Every person is more or less obsessed. 

(&) "Not by evil spirits always, nor generally. 

(c) "It has"^ been shown heretofore that there is no intrinsic 
evil — but there are spirits who were not fully unfolded in the 
earth life, coming here with the tendencies of their earthly con- 
ditions, sometimes seek to manifest back to earth ; and, when they 
come into the sphere of a medium, they more or less manifest 
their imperfections, and you call them evil spirits. 

2063. "If the world better understood this law of obsession, 
your insane would be very differently and vastly more success- 
fully treated. 

(a) "Most of those commonly pronounced insane are only 
obsessed — not always by those of spirit life, but often by someone 
in the mortal. 

2064. "There is such a thing as unconscious cerebration of 
one mortal by another. 

(a) "There is such a law, now known as hypnotism; and this 
may be both conscious and unconscious. 

(b) "It may be by the spirit of the mortal or ascended life. 

(c) "Or it may be by one's own physical surroundings — self- 
hypnotism. 

(d) "There is no such thing as insanity any more than there 
is such a thing as intrinsic evil. 

(e) "When the word 'insanity' is used by us, it is in the sense 
that the words 'mind' and 'soul' are synonymous. In that sense 
there is no insanity. 

2065. "What is manifest as insanity is an expression, either 
of an imperfect relation of the soul to the body, or of obsession. 

(a) "A great many very sensible people are called crazy by 
those of less intelligence. Your Newtons, your Harveys, your 
Fultons have all been pronounced crazy. A great many persons 
call von crazy; but it will be found that your craziness is far- 
reaching, and that for which the world is longing, but knows 
it not." 

Oration No. 13. (474.) 

Origin of the Christian Philosophy. 

In answer, the spirit said: 

2066. (a) "I understand that you wish to know the origin of 
the Christian system as it is taught now. This is not a philosophy 
in anv true sense of that word. It had its origin with the Bible. 

(b) "That book is much younger than you think. The Bible 
you have to-day is made for money the same as Elsmere's book. 



340 RENDING THE TAIL. 

It is made to sell. The Bible was, many thousands of years ago, 
not as it is to-day. As the Bible with Christianity is taught to- 
day, it is not many years of age ; in fact, is an infant, and will stay 
there and retrograde. 

(c) "The Bible is only history at the best you can make of It. 
The Bible was written, to some extent, by mediums. Not by 
Paul, not by Moses, not by Luke. Certain men began to write 
and did not complete it. 

(d) "There arose an historian who was a medium, that put 
the old Bible, as it is called, into much its present shape. And do 
you know who that man was?" 

(e) Secretary: "I do not suppose that any of us would 
claim to know the author." 

(f) "Denton: "Well, I '11 tell you. It was a man whom you 
little suspect. His name is Josephus. 

2067. "Josephus is the real author of the old Bible. But it 
has been so doctored since it left his hands that he would not rec- 
ognize it at all. 

(a) "He was the first medium compiler of the Bible who 
w T rote at all. He says but little about spirits. 

(b) "He wrote two books. His first was correct, historically, 
or nearly so. The second was the one that mostly fell into the 
hands of the doctors — and such doctors! You speak of Dr. Bliss, 
but these D.D.s, as mutilators, put away into the shade the M.D.s 
of the unfortunate Garfield." 

Address No. 14. (501.) 

Light in Spirit Life. 

20G8. Prof. William Denton, as we recognize this spirit, 
stood in the cabinet door fully clothed, with body and habiliment, 
to appearance, as in the mortal, and thus, in good oral English, 
addressed the circle, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. It does me good to have the 
privilege of this interview with you. 

(b) "Your friends here step aside for us to proceed with our 
book. They all are interested in that work and are anxious to 
have it go on. 

(c) "We do not have any quarrel here as to who shall use the 
occasion. It is all by mutual harmony of feeling with us. Each 
of us can see, without being dictated to, what is best, and each 
knows his part and the time to do that part. 

(d) "You may discern that this spirit band has no discord. 

(e) "Now, Mr. Secretary, will you please announce a 
subject?" 

Secretary: "Bro. House hands in these questions: 
" '1st. Is Swedenborg correct in saying that the sun of the 
spirit world is the source of all things?' 



RENDING THE VAIL. 341 



a c 



2d. What is the spiritual value and mission of art?' ' ! 

2069. Spirit: "When you speak of the sun of the spirit 
world — there is no such thing. There is light here radiated from 
the atoms. Our light is very different from your light. Your 
light is grosser than ours. Your light is unnatural to us. and 
therefore painful to the spirit. 

(a) "Our light is a soft, radiant light, but a very brilliant 
one to us. 

(b) "The eye in the physical never beheld that light — never 
will behold it. 

(c) "I thought, when in the physical, that I was, at times, 
permitted to see that light, the light of the spirit world; but I 
found, when I got here, that I never had, in the least degree, per- 
ceived that light, so ethereal, so beautiful ! 

(c) "Its beauty, its grandeur, its sweet harmonious blending 
with spiritual sensation ! 

(d) "No tongue, nor pen, nor angel, can describe the ineffa- 
bly thrilling sensations produced by the waving of that light upon 
the sensorium of an harmonious celestial. But language fails me 
to portray to you a single conception of that 

Beautiful, beautiful, glorious light 
That bursts upon the spirit sight, 
When entered fully those radiant homes 
Prepared in heaven's high dazzling domes. 

"No, no, friends, we have no spiritual central sun. All is 
light, light, sweet light! Wherever the soul may wander as the 
wasteless ages of eternity roll their ample rounds, all is light. 

2070. "Swedenborg was a grand, good man, and, by the as- 
sistance of glorious spirits of light, caught some faint glimpses of 
life in the brilliant spheres, but those glimpses were modified in 
expression by the barriers of his physical, and the psychologic 
influences of the theologic dogmas of his time. 

(a) "He discerned many things aright. 

(b) "He was honest, and there never was a more sincere man 
than Emanuel Swedenborg. 

(c) "He was inspired, but the inspiring agents were not in- 
fallible, nor were they of the same degree of intelligence. 

(d) "He taught some things as of spirit life that we do not 
find here, and that are but a slight modification of the modern 
theologic groundwork. 

(e) "His hells and demons are but little, if any, improvement ; 
yet a people would do well to peruse his works as giving glimpses 
of a dawning light. 

2071. "As a scene in the mortal does not produce the same 
impressions, the same sensations, at any given time, upon any two 
persons, so with scenes in spirit life — no two spirits see alike. 

(a) "Individuality is stamped upon all things and organisms 
here as with vou. 



342 BENDING THE TAIL. 

(b) "No two roses in all the gardens of earth bloom exactly 
alike. 

(c) "No two souls in all the amplitudes of Nature's illimita- 
ble domains are, at any given time, unfolded just exactly alike. 

id) "Therefore, the same glorious light emanating or radiat- 
ing from the most refined organism in the highest spheres must 
necessarily produce an impression of which the expression must 
be according to the individual development of the beholder. 

2072. "And this individuality, the most sublime manifesta- 
tion of law in all the realm of Nature, is exactly the hell, the devil, 
the diabolism, that the ignorant theologian is continually impress- 
ing upon the tender souls of youth — all to be unlearned in the 
coming ages as the sweet light of heaven shall reveal to the en- 
raptured vision. 

"Now, Mr. Secretary, please read the other question again; 
it may be that I shall have power to speak a moment more before 
I go." 

2073. Secretary: "The spiritual value and mission of art?'* 
(a) Spirit: "That might be stated in another form: 'The 

tastes of the soul, and the means of their gratification.' ' : 

2073^. "Every intelligent soul, however crude, in its unfold- 
ment or means of manifestation, has taste, as you would call it y 
which is the expression of a desire to procure for itself its highest 
conception of beauty and utility. This not being readily obtained 
in an exclusively natural state, it seeks to manufacture for itself 
and to utilize, so far as practical, that manufactured by others. 

2074. "This created a necessity for the engerming and un- 
foldment of mechanical powers, and Dame Nature is on hands, 
with a supply of molecules, atoms, protoplasms, and everything 
needed, and says : 'Soul, help thyself.' 

2075. "Thus constructiveness, form, size, weight, imitation, 
idealty, and sublimity, with destructh^eness to tear down and 
clear away, and eombativeness to prosecute the work, all these 
are born, and so the birth of art. 

2076. "All these faculties are as enduring as the soul, contin- 
uallv increasing; so that art is known and is a necessity wherever 
the soul is found; and artificial requirements are enlarged as the 
soul expands. 

2077. "On this side of life, art is as much higher in the scale 
as spirit life is higher than the physical. 

2078. "We take not our designs from the earth, but from 
higher spheres. 

2070. "The lower spheres are continually receiving from the 
higher. Your designs are, many of them, given you from on high. 

2080. "As you have special artists, so have we. 

2081. "As your works of art depend upon the skill of your 
specialists, so it is with us. 



BENDING THE VAIL. 343 

2082. "We have to depend upon special artists to make our- 
selves known to mortals. 

2083. "Every medium for physical manifestations is accom- 
panied by a special artist. 

2084. "In addition to the medium, the circle, and atmos- 
pheric condition, there must be an artist who can manipulate the 
necessary elements into physical form, patterned to suit the spirit 
using. If the medium is good, the circle good, and atmosphere 
all right, and the artist imperfect, the manifestations must be 
imperfect. 

2085. "If the special artist is all right, and all other condi- 
tions all right, so that a perfect form can be prepared for the man- 
ifesting spirit, and that spirit not sufficiently artistic to use the 
form, then, though the form be perfect and appear to you as a 
splendid materialization, yet the spirit is unable to perfectly man- 
ifest its individuality. 

2086. "When Spiritualists are so ignorant of the high art 
and fine conditions necessary to produce temporary reincarna- 
tions, what could be expected of those entirely ignorant of the 
whole business. 

2087. "The high art necessary to produce these temporary 
reincarnations, or generally so-called materializations, is almost 
competent to produce the creation of a world; and yet there be 
those wise men of your earth who call this the work of low spirits. 

2088. "Friends, you little know the exalted privileges you 
enjoy here. Seldom, if ever before, was little or large band of mor- 
tals permitted to gaze so far into the celestial as is being your lot. 

2089. "Since I have been here, in spirit life, I have visited 
round the world, and especially all over your continent, and while 
I have found some very excellent intervening channels, none have 
I ever found near so good for me as here. Here I find the highest 
art structure ever erected by spirit artists, as a bridge, spanning 
the river of death. 

2090. "Good friends, the destiny of art is not ephemeral. 
We need all the developments of art in the physical for use in the 
spirit life, except it be the art of getting and hoarding money; that 
is not needed here, nor those arts of producing stimulants to 
poison persons of abnormal appetites. 

2091. "We use no alcoholic stimulants here. So much of 
artistic energy as is used by you to in any wise wrong your fellow- 
man you will find to be washed energy ; or, worse yet, will be found 
to have produced for your spirit home a blemished building. 

2092. "But cultivate the highest, purest art on earth as hav- 
ing an immortal destiny." 

At the word "destiny" this spirit vanished from the doorway 
of the cabinet, and Thomas Paine stood forth in the arena, begin- 
ning his oration No. 14. (2444.) 



344 * RENDING THE VAIL. 

Oration No. 15. (511.) 

Wonderful Properties of Oxygen. — English the Original and Natural 

Language. 

2093. Spirit Denton, standing forth for vocalization, asked 
for topics. 

House : "What have you to say about guardian angels ?" 
(a) Spirit: "Yes, there is always about you some one or 
more, and of the class as yourself. You are never for one moment 
entirely alone. Angels of sympathy are often near you to help 
you into better conditions. 
"What else?" 

2094. Secretary: "What of the story of John in the isle of 
Patmos?" 

(a) Denton: "There is such an island as Patmos, and there 
was such a man as John. There have been a great many Johns, 
you know, but this John is not a myth. He did receive much of 
those revelations. He did many things he could not understand — 
or, rather, the powers around him, through him as an instrument, 
did them. 

(b) "But his storv of this work has been verv much modified 
by D.D.s." 

"What else?" 

2095. Secretary: "You, some time ago, said: 'The igneous 
or aqueous origin of this earth is } T et a question.' What have you 
to say in explanation of that remark?" 

(a) Spirit: "Well, I say that your earth is composed mostly 
of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and of these the greater part 
is oxygen. (b) Oxygen and hydrogen compose the aqueous; 
(c) oxygen and nitrogen, the atmosphere; and various proportion- 
ate compounds of these, the most of the other substances. 

2096. "Oxygen is not an element; it is itself a compound of 
the most wonderful nature of all the compounds in the universe. 

(a) "Of all things in nature, oxygen forms one of the most 
intensely interesting studies to intelligences in the higher life. 
It is indeed a most wonderful compound. Words are too cum- 
brous to describe, and man in the physical too crude to compre- 
hend, the sublime nature and office of oxygen. 

(b) "Wherever there is life there is oxygen. In tracing life 
from spirit, from molecule, from atom, from protoplasm, I find 
oxygen all the way along. Everything has life, and all life has 
oxygen. 

2097. "You are composed of life germs. Millions and mil- 
lions of life germs to make one man. How long, long, long time 
for Nature's great laboratory to work out the perfect man from 
the germ in the nebulous to the full-rounded individual intelli- 
gence! But eternity is hers, and the vibrations of the pendulum 
of her timepiece the oscillations of the universe! 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 345 

2098. "It is an eternity of remarkable wonderment to think 
how one's life is constructed! Look at my hands, my nails, my 
feet, from head to foot — all is life. You can move, you can think. 
All this wonderful machine from the atom, the molecule, the air; 
but everything is life — there is no dead. Death is only a rela- 
tive condition of life. Wonderful, wonderful, to all eternity — 
wonderful!" 

2099. Secretary: "The languages? 1 ' 

(a) Spirit: "All languages came from one language, and 
that one language your own. 

(b) "That known as the English language was, ten thousand 
years ago, the universal language; and the world is rapidly turn- 
ing again to that language. 

(c) "There ought to be one language. 

(d) "A spirit stood here che other night and told you, in good 
English, that he was one of the Lamurans, and that he can now 
talk English because that was the language of Lamura. 

(e) "Mixed languages among a people sometimes work great 
harm. Mercenary men speaking two or three languages some- 
times set up 'jobs' on an unsuspecting person who understands 
but one, and rob hirn. 

(/) "Notably is that the case with the Jews. 

2100. "There ought to be but one language tolerated in your 
schools — have all persons learn that language and converse in 
none other. 

(a) "It is time wasted, time misspent, for English schools to 
attempt to teach any but pure English. 

(b) "That course would the sooner make it again the uni- 
versal language as a prelude to a universal brotherhood." 

In answer to questions in regard thereto, the spirit said: 

2101. "Yes, the Sanscrit was derived from what is now 
known as the English language. 

(a) Secretary: "How is it, then, that the Sanscrit is said by 
philologists to be the purest of all existing languages?" 

(b) Denton: "Ten thousand to twenty thousand years ago 
your language was pure and simple. Each character had a fixed 
meaning — represented something definite. It was not unnatu- 
ral, as it is to-day, by the use of cumbersome and meaningless 
characters." 

2102. Secretary: "Is this the language of other planets?" 
(a) Denton: "I am so informed. I understand that the 

English language, in its purity, is a natural language, and that 
attempted artificial embellishments have made it very cumber- 
some; yet it is nearer the natural than any other; and for this 
reason is destined to become the universal tongue; and will, also, 
gradually return to its ancient simplicity. 

2103. Secretary: "What is your opinion of Bellamy's ideal 
government?" 



346 BENDING THE VAIL. 

(a) Denton: "So far as any earthly government is con- 
cerned, it is ideal, mostly. 

(&) "So long as man is on an evolutionary road from the 
rocks to spirit life, that vision cannot be realized. 

(c) "But in spirit life we have governments somewhat after 
that pattern ; and from thence was received by Mr. Bellamy. And 
it may be that his vision, though true with us, may assist to some 
modification of government on earth that will be to the great ad- 
vantage of the people." 

Vocalization No. 16. (514i0 

Continuation of Query Discussion. 

The spirit, standing forth in visible form, said : "Now let me 
have one of your questions, and I will try to speak to it." 

2104. Question 43 of the Walser series: "Is there a higher 
or more comprehensive mental power than that which is ex- 
pressed through man and his ultimate?" 

(a) Denton: ki I said I would discuss one of your questions; 
that is Mr. Walser's. However, as the question is here, I will pro- 
ceed with it. Of course there is higher mental power than on 
your plane. Haven't you found that out after all our coming 
down 'the shining highway' with higher thoughts? That is what 
we are here for — to reveal a higher and more comprehensive 
power beyond your earthly life." 

(b) Secretary: "Perhaps, Professor, you do not get the 
brother's question as he designed it. I suppose he desires to know 
whether there are intelligent beings in existence, other than man 
and his descendants." 

(c) Denton: "If that is the question, I answer, most em- 
phatically, No. Wherever an intelligent being is found endowed 
with mental energy such as distinguishes man from the lower ani- 
mals, it is man, man — only man or his descendant — still man. 
You will remember that I before demonstrated the unity of the 
universe. Therefore, wherever man is found, he is an evolution of 
the same cosmic matter under the same universal law." 

2105. Walser question 44: "Is there an infinite mind em- 
anating from Deific power?" 

Denton: "No, sir, there is not; other than man in evolu- 
tion under law. That is virtually the same question as the other." 

Walser question 45: "Is there a difference between in- 
telligence and mind?" 

(a) Denton : "Yes, sir ; or we may so consider it. The move- 
ment of the muscles, the operation or manifestation of the phys- 
ical organism, is the mind. 

(o) "The intelligence is that which directs the physical 
manifestation. 

(r) "The mind is the expression. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 347 

(d) "The intelligence, that which directs the expression." 

210<>. Question by the circle: Who are our guardian 
angels? 

Denton: "You all have appointed to you some spirit, 
who is ever watchful over you. It may be some relative, or it 
may be some ancient spirit or other; but it is always some one 
competent in himself. Your relatives may not always be compe- 
tent, and in such case, not made your guardians. Other influences 
than your guardians often are about you, and sometimes for a 
time usurp the guardian." 

2106-J. To a question by Mr. House, Denton answered: "An 
English people produced the Yucatan hieroglyphics." 

Oration No. 17. (535.) 

Thought Is Perceivable. 

2107. "To the question as to whether thought generated by 
one spirit and projected toward another may be discerned by a 
third spirit that happens in the line of the thought projected, I 
have this to say: 

(a) "You will remember that I have heretofore told you 
that thought is substance. 

(b) "Here in spirit life we do not converse as you do. We 
perceive thought. The spirit wishing to communicate something 
to me projects its thought toward me and it enters my brain sub- 
stance; then I see it, perceive it. And any spirit being in line of 
the thought projected also perceives the thought." 

(c) Secretary: "You cannot have any amusement talking 
behind a fellow's back over there." 

(d) Spirit: "We have no confidants over here. All is an 
open book. 

(e) "Nevertheless we have secrets over here. I have a secret 
now that you will never understand, and you can hardly guess 
what that 'is?" 

(/) Secretary: "The secret of life?" 

(g) Spirit: "Not that; guess again." 

(h) Secretary: "Oh, well, if you say I may not be able to 
guess it, I need not try." 

(i) Spirit: "Well, I '11 tell you what it is: That little ma- 
chine out there." (Telegraph.) 

(j) Secretary: "Why not I, as well as you, understand it?" 

(k) Spirit: "Oh, well, perhaps after a while you may under- 
stand it." 

Oration No. 18. (542.) 

Transition Experience. 

2108. The spirit said: "That theme has been, already, fully 
presented here; but, for the benefit of the good friend, I will say 
a little about it. 



348 RENDING THE TAIL. 

(a) "Nearly all people, just before quitting the tenement of 
clay, become clairvoyant, so that they realize the presence of their 
friends on this side of life. They see their spirit friends just 
before leaving the body, and of course all the while in spirit life. 

(b) "You know that there are certain stages of sleep in which 
you see beautiful things, and, at the same time, are not so sound 
asleep but that you realize partial consciousness of outer life; 
but yo'u are at perfect rest, and feel delight in the beauty around 
you. So it is, mostly, while soul and body are parting. You then 
realize your situation, with a degree of pleasure, and wonder if 
you will like the new as well as the old home. You realize, too, 
that, after all, there is no death. You see all about you the friends 
that had gone before you. 

(c) "Such is the experience of most people while making 
the transition. " 

Oration No. 19. (562.) 

Astrology Has Some Truth. 

2109. Miss Moore: "Professor, how many chemists know 
they are assisted in their work by spirits?" 

(a) Denton: "There are some who feel that they are thus 
assisted, but do not acknowledge it. A few only are willing to 
say they are assisted. A very considerable number are much 
assisted, and do not know it; and quite a number, either not as- 
sisted at all or very feebly so. Those who have assistance from 
the spirit world are more accurate in proportion to the degree 
of assistance. 

(b) "We can give you knowledge in all science. In fact, in 
order that you accomplish much in scientific research you must 
be aided." 

2110. Miss Moore: "Would you please tell us. something 
about astrology?" 

(a) Denton: "Well, let me say, some have natural facul- 
ties, some have to work it out. 

(b) "A great many persons have been very successful in 
reading life-lines, but mostly because they have been aided 
so to do. 

"You [the questioner] are not so much for this work as you 
are for chemistry. You can read character, tell whether the per- 
son you meet be honest or deceitful. 

(c) "Astrology takes in a great deal of ground. It will make 
you understand yourself, but more of others. Very much of 
one's life-line anddestiny on earth is fixed by the magnetic condi- 
tions and surroundings during gestation and birth.' 

2111. Question: "One thoroughly acquainted with these 
laws could forecast even the time and manner of one's death?" 

(a) Spirit : "Certainly. I could now tell you, each one, of 
the verv time and manner of your death. And I am permitted to 



RENDING THE TAIL. 349 

say this much: All of you that are here this evening will die 
what is called a natural death. None of you will die by violence 
or casualty. 

(b) "Some of you have been very near to death by accident, 
but your time, as fixed from the molding of your personality, had 
not come. You escaped — you hardly knew how or why. Some 
other, in less critical condition, would surely have died or been 
killed." 

2112. Question : "Then we need not be afraid of being torn 
up by a cyclone?" (This had reference to the fact that the 
medium is much alarmed at the appearance of a storm.) 

(a Spirit: "No. But if you had been in a gale as he has, 
and been so much frightened, and had such a narrow escape as he, 
you too would be likely to be somewhat timid at the approach ot 
what seems a coming storm. 

(b) "Say, do you know that this medium and his brother,, 
one Sunday night, in a yacht, with fish, were blown by a gale- 
out in the lake, and everything seemed like certain death, but a 
spirit told his brother to cast anchor? The gale swept the masts 
clean, but the boys were saved. This was not the time nor the 
manner of their death. But any wind-storm naturally makes the 
medium feel timid. 

(c) "There is a lady over there just as timid and fearful of 
a horse — but these two are not to be killed in such way. 

(d) "All dangers of that kind are warded by their angels." 

2113. Question: "Was Ptolemy, or one of them, an 
astrolgist?" 

(a) Denton: "Ptolemy was an astrologist." 
Here the spirit seemed unable to longer hold the form, and 
therefore he retired behind the door curtains into the cabinet. 

Oration No. 20. (572.) 

Dialogue Form Continued. 

2114. Visitor Jenkinson: "I would like to hear this spirit 
say something about the Alliance." 

(a) Denton: "The Alliance party? I am not so much of a 
politician as some others are; that was not in my line, but I may 
say a word or two. 

(b) "If the Alliance will stand firmly to one resolution, it 
mav do some good. But, as matters are, it is very liable to divide 
into factions; and, so long as it does that, it will accomplish little 
or nothing. 

(c) "To the nation at large it is yet a small factor. One 
element of strength, however, may do it much good: the ladies 
are taking hold of it quite earnestly; and if they go on and work 
up enthusiasm, it will be a great help to the party. It will grow 
and become stronger and stronger, and may continue, and finally 
succeed, but I fear not. 

23 



350 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(d) "The Alliance is very good, and I hope it may have 
abundance of success. 
"What next?" 

2115. Question: "How much similar to the life of man is 
the butterfly?" 

(a) Spirit: "The butterfly is very tender, is very delicate, 
and, in some respects, is very beautiful. 

(&) "But what does the butterfly evolve into? Can you tell, 
Mr. Secretary?" 

(c) Secretary: "I don't know that I can." 

(d) Denton : "I should think you ought to know that much 
of natural history anyway, Mr. Secretary?" 

(e) Secretary : "I know of no other evolution for the butter- 
fly than that it evolves into other butterflies." 

(/) Denton : "That 's it. You struck it exactly. The butter- 
fly state is the point of evolution that evolves or reproduces itself. 

(g) "In that sense it is continuous. 

(h) "In that sense it is a simile of man on earth; but in a 
very limited sense is it an emblem of the beautiful life and home 
of the decarnated soul. 

(i) "We can talk of the butterfly and of man on earth as 
continuous under the law of 'kind continually reproducing its 
kind.' In this sense we may consider both immortal. 

(;) "We have already traced man to a spiritual beginning, 
which was also contemporary with his material beginning, and 
that necessarily proves that he has always existed, and that 
he always will exist; and this philosophy applies also to the 
butterfly. 

(Jc) "But neither one is an evolution of the other. 

"There, Mr. Secretary, is your butterfly." 

Oration No. 21. (583.) 

Clairvoyants and Clair audiants Can See and Hear Spirits, out No 
Machine Will Ever Present Them to Physical Senses. 

2116. "Good-evening, friends. I am glad that it is possible 
and a fact that I am with you in a perceivable way at this time. 
Is there anything you would have me speak to?" 

(a) Secretary : "We would be pleased to have your opinion 
of the proposition to invent a machine by which we can hear the 
spirits talk, see them in their spirit homes, and behold them leave 
the body at transition. 

(b) Denton : "You already have instruments in your world 
that can see and hear all those things: clairvoyants and clairau- 
diants; and you will have more of them. But as to the invention 
of a machine by which that result can be accomplished to the 
physical senses, that will never be done. 

2117. "The physical senses cannot by the aid of any physi- 
cal machine see or hear spirit or spiritual things. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 351 

(a) "But spirits may portray to the physical some dim idea 
of the great spirit world and its inhabitants." 

2118. Secretary: "How about Edison's telephone thunder- 
ing in the ears of man the noises produced by solar convulsions ?" 

(a) Spirit: "That telephone will never work outside the 
imagination. Mr. Edison is stuck on a sand-bar this time. 

(b) "You have a little machine right here, if you will develop 
to its utmost, will put you in connection with the various planets 
by our aid. We give you messages now over that little telefranh, 
that you allow to go to waste. You ought to learn to read and 
interpret these messages for yourslves. We cannot afford to tick, 
tick, tick, tick, dash, tick, and for no purpose. Mr. Secretary, you 
should learn this for yourself, and then you would not have it 
second-hand. We have other phases yet to give you, but we must 
perfect this first. One thing at a time. You must learn this 
telegraphy. 

(c) "Then we must have more illustrations for our book. 
(6) "We have much more to give you for that." 

Oration No. 22. (583.) 

Mundane Casualties. 

2119. "The only way to get rid of man and the ways of man 
is to blot out the earth. 

(a) "This could only be done by a great electrical disturb- 
ance, which is not likely to occur in sufficient magnitude to de- 
stroy the earth. 

(b) "Local disturbances are very likely to occur, very de- 
structive in their nature. Your region may suffer only a diminu- 
tion of agricultural products. These things are permitted to 
occur that man's egotism be modified. 

2120. "Who governs the universe? Who governs the 
elements?" 

(a) Spirit: "These questions are deeper than mortals or 
even spirits can comprehend. But having been here for some 
time, I have concluded that in the combination of elements there 
is apt to be explosion ; and that, when convulsions occur in nature, 
it is because some one manages badly; that is, the chemists here 
having charge are not competent. 

(b) "You know that sometimes physicians and chemists get 
themselves blown up by bad mixtures. If you undertake a mix- 
ture of principal gases without regard to proper proportions of the 
mixing ingredients, you are apt to be entirely blown up. 

(c) "If you undertake the mixture in an improper caloric 
state, or, in some cases, if, after mixture, you allow an improper 
caloric state, vou are likelv to be blown to atoms." 



352 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Oration No. 23. (592.) 

Progressive Thinker Commended. 

2121. "It does us good that Bro. Francis undertakes to 
battle the hindering influences of the churches: for such influences 
are a festering sore greatly retarding the advancement of the race, 
in now, as ever, using all the machinery of a wily priesthood to 
block up the highway of freedom on which the soul of man would 
travel. It creates war, if need be, to better blockade the evolu- 
tionary highway. But let them come with armies and guns and 
swords, if they will and dare. I like to have things moving. 
You, each, ought to write a line, a sentence for that brave sheet. 
[Progressive Thinker.'] They have tried to restrain this work with 
every ingenuity at their command, but it [Spiritualism] will go 
on and on for all the ages yet to be. 

2122. "It would seem that those people are possessed of evil 
influences in their hounding down the rising of any light for man. 
But all are on their way to the 'hunting-ground,' and each one 
sounding his own requiem. 

(a) "I can't talk as when on earth, although I get stronger 
the more I try. You may not be able to understand this, nor will 
you, perhaps, until you get here, when you will be able to learn 
more accurately. 

(b) "As to our book, we wish to make it desirable, so as that 
people, on election day, rushing for the polls, will call for our 
book, when we get it ready; and, let me say, friends, the best is 
yet to come." 

Oration No. 24. (645.) 

Spirit Return of Benefit to Spirits in Their Desire to Better Man's 
Condition. — Shakespeare. — Ingersoll. 

2123. Question: "Of what direct benefit to denizens of 
spirit life is this open intercourse between the two spheres of 
life?" 

(a) Denton : "In the first place, we know it to be of great 
benefit to you. It substitutes to you truth for error. It prepares 
you the better for the transition state. In a money sense it is of 
no benefit to us. The benefit to us is in the qualification of our 
desires to see the race conditions made better. The more we 
exercise the benevolent, the more ennobling are we. This is the 
great benefit. We exist to unfold ; and the exercise of the different 
mental attributes in accord with natural design is the evolution- 
ary road." 

Denton retired for a little time, while interesting phenomena 
were given, and then reappeared, saying: "Some people seem to 
want to know whether or not Shakespeare was a reality. 

2124. "Shakespeare did exist. I have seen him. He seldom 
comes to this first sphere. I will try and have him come here 
some time. He was a good man. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 353 

(a) "In one sense his history is correct, and m another it 
is not. 

(b) "A great deal of truth in his writings — mistakes all 
through his book. He wrote according to his time. He was 
inspired to a great extent, and to some extent he was conscious 
of it. When he talks of that 'undiscovered country whence no 
traveler returns/ he makes a wonderful mistake. At other times 
he recognizes spirit return. 

(c) "But he wrote his books and plays to catch the people, 
whom he, as few men, well knew. 

(d) "If he had written the truth, as he understood it, with- 
out disguise, his works would not have been so acceptable to peo- 
ple at the time, but it would ultimately have been better. 

(e) "Yes, I have heard of 'Elsmere.' That is without founda- 
tion. Some of it is true, but the untrue overshadows the true. 
It is not deep. It is mostly theory. Fact is what you want. It 
is lenient toward the Church, and truckles in that direction. 
Straight goods is what you should have." 

Question : "Ingersoll ?" 

2125. "There is no other, nor will there' ever be. Only a 
little time till he will advocate Spiritualism." 

Oration No. 25. 

Spirit Return the Hope of the World. 

2126. "If these invisible bonds were severed, the earth 
would be lost in spiritual darkness. There would be no hope for 
the future, no means for progress, and retrogression would be- 
come the law of humanity; and we would find ourselves without 
a motive for such work as this." 

Oration No. 26. (713.) 

Realities of Spirit Life beyond Description to Mortals. — Educating 
the Ignorant the Great WorTc of Spirits. 

2127. "Keplying to the desire of Bro. House, I may say: The 
realities of the spirit world are beyond description. They are so 
grand, so glorious! 

"I might stand here for hours and try to tell you of it and 
not reach your minds with any conception of its glory, its great- 
ness, its grandeur. It is so vast in extent, so marvelous, any at- 
tempt to portray to you anything more than a faint idea of the 
spirit world would be but futile. 

2128. "Not until you get here and see for yourselves can 
you know of this delightful abode of the soul. 

"But we have our mission — to try to have some light get to 
your shores. And we are doing our best to enlighten the world 
and prepare its people to receive the light. 

2129. "It is our business to instruct those who need help. 
The same here as with you. Many thousands of you cannot read 



354 RENDING THE TAIL. 

or write or even speak good English. So many reach us with a 
very limited degree of mental development as to need all our 
energies in their advancement out of ignorance, wrong education, 
and the dwarfed religious natures, that the energies of enlight- 
ened minds everywhere, all the time, find employment in the line 
of amelioration. 

"And we want to break the fetters that tend to bind souls 
on earth in chains of darkness, so that they may reach us here in 
a higher unfoldment of spirituality. So many, many people on 
your earth have no idea of the changes that take place along the 
life-line. As they come here we gather them to instruct and 
interest." 

Oration No. 27. (727.) 

Beginning of Individualized Personal Being. — The Holy Ghost. — Ma- 
terialization. — Vocalization. 

2130. "But you wish to know at what particular perio'd in 
your existence you first became an individualized man? 

"Well, while your life is traceable back through protoplasm 
and the atomic to realm of spirit, yet your existence as an indi- 
vidualized man in personal being did not begin until the supreme 
moment of the chemical union of the positive and negative proto- 
plasm within the matrix. 

2131. "After you have taken on this state, being all of en- 
during and primitive essences and forces, your being can never 
terminate as an individual personality. The being is necessarily 
enduring as its constituent essences. 

2132. "Your life came from spirit, and, when fully matured 
into individuality, must return, though permanently individual- 
ized, to its natural abode, the spirit realms from whence it came. 

2133. "Yes, it is true, of course, here, as with you, that 
spirits move in circles adapted to their state. I can visit the 
higher srmeres, and stay there, if I desire; but, under the law, I 
rather be where I am needed, where I can do the most good, where 
my largest sympathies are. Hence I am here. 

2134. "As a free moral agency, man is not such, except to a 
limited extent, concerning earthly affairs. 

2135. "There is no time but what some one of spirit life is 
near you and more or less influences your conduct. 

2136. "In spirit life as on earth, you gravitate to the society 
that is on a plane with yourself. This is the law. 

2137. "You may, on earth, so modify your life as to be fitted 
for higher associates in spirit life. 

2138. Question: "The Holy Ghost?" 

"The only ghost or spirit influence you have is that we spirits, 
denizens of the spirit world — not as winged messengers, but sim- 
ply spirits — visit you; and, in various ways, you sense our 
presence. 



BENDING TEE VAIL. 355 

2139. "As you are on earth, so you couie here. 

2140. "Church spirits come here and for a time are church 
spirits yet. They visit the churches and are often felt there in 
connection with the psychic or mesmeric influence of the reviv- 
alist. And that is what they call the 'Holy Ghost.' And they 
think it is the direct influence of God and his high, special winged 
angels, when in fact it is only the influence of such church spirits, 
not yet out of the earth-born theological ruts of ignorance." 

2141. On August 2d Mr. Beadles pressed the question for 
the Professor to make more explicit the how and the time of the 
introduction of the soul so as to make of man an individualized 
conscious entity. 

(a) The spirit, continuing, said: "I told you last evening, 
and you will find in my writings here, that man always existed. 
You always existed, but how? Not as an individualized being, 
but first in spirit ether, then in the atomie, then the protoplasm, 
then by close relation with the female, the male and female proto- 
plasmic life elements undergo a chemical change, producing a 
spiritual affinity in its fullness — the embryotic beginning of the 
individualized man. Man incarnate once and only once. The 
soul, the life, always existed. 

2142. "Life-germs in everything you eat. Life-germs, soul- 
germs, in the food you eat, the fluid you drink, the air you breathe, 
even in the electrical elements. You are composed of these life- 
germs affinitized into a spiritual compound. Though you may 
have existed in the rocks, in this way you have been evolved from 
the rocks. All along the line you existed, both soul and body, but 
never as an individualized personality until the chemical change 
before mentioned. 

"I should think this plain enough, but perhaps I shall pres- 
ently write of this matter, if I can write at all this evening, and 
will tell the others to try this matter also." 

2143. Boicourt: "Professor, don't you find it very difficult 
to express yourself as when in the mortal?" 

(a) Spirit : "I think my writings here sufficient to show my 
identity. If you could understand this process, you might at once 
see that any expression in this way is a marvel in itself. You 
must know that this frail form, constructed of elements of the 
circle, must partake of the intellectuality of the circle; and that, 
if the circle be composed of high intellectuality, we can construct 
an instrument by which to express a greater degree of intellectu- 
ality than where the circle is otherwise. 

(b) "Then these vocalizations require an exertion on our part 
to form a larynx and hold it for any length of time that is ex- 
hausting to us and modifies our ability to give utterance to 
thoughts. 

(c) "It was no trouble to me while on earth to express my 
thoughts, as I then had them, to the understanding of people. 
But words fail to portray the grandeur of this side of life; and, 



356 RENDING THE TAIL. 

on that account, too, we find ourselves unable to speak but feebly 
to your understanding of this beautiful world. 

(d) "I can write much more readily than I can speak, be- 
cause that to write I do not have to maintain an artificial larynx, 
nor have the general form so compact as is required to speak. 

(e) "Still, you ask us to prove our identity. We are willing 
to do that, but why, for each time we meet you, shall we be re- 
quired to prove our identity? 

2144. "The thing for you to do is to learn, first, whether it 
is a fact that any of your friends can and do return, and that 
fact ought to assure you that your father, or mother, or William 
Denton can return to you as well as any. The great fact you 
want to know is not so much whether a certain spirit is the one 
claimed to be, but, whether any spirit can and does return. If 
one can, any can, all can. Hence your friends can, and are likely 
no more to deceive you from the spirit side of life than from the 
earth side. 

2145. "We can more easily approach you in materialized 
form in darkness than in light. Light has a tendency to and does 
destroy these temporary forms, on the same principle that it 
instantly destroys the sensitive film of the photographer's plate. 

2146. "As the photographer requires proper conditions 
of light to prosecute with success his work, so do we in 
materialization. 

2147. "In photography the sensitive plate is the medium, 
and is acted upon by light or darkness much as the medium for 
materializations. Light is positive. Darkness negative. 

2148. "When you understand how much is required of a 
spirit to be able to produce these temporary forms in order to 
be sensed by the physical senses, you surely will have a different 
^opinion of our expressions to you in this way." 

And the spirit retired into the cabinet. 

Oration No. 28. (745.) 

Life, Being Eternal, Is Not Evolved. — Life and Spirit Ether Fill All 

Space. — Law of All Affinity Is Centered in the Positive 

and Negative Spirit Ether. 

2149. "Fact is what you want. Demonstrated proof. The- 
ory founded on superstition, founded on a false training, founded 
on a false premise, amounts to nothing. The world is full of 
theories, conflicting theories, and needs no more, nor to retain 
those it already has. 

2150. "I have told you that life always existed. Life is 
eternal. 

2151. "Therefore life is not 'an evolution from the rocks.' 
Spirit always existed, is eternal. 

2152. "Therefore spirit is not 'evolved from the grosser side 
of life,' not 'from the rocks.' 



RENDING THE TAIL. 357 

2153. "Life permeates and is inherent in all things. 

2154. "Spirit ether fills the universe. 

2155. "There is no space unoccupied by life and spirit ether. 

2156. "Spirit ether is, itself, a compound of two coexistent, 
coeternal elements — the one positive, the other negative; one the 
male, the other the female element. 

2157. "These two primitive elements do always exist in 
union, always did exist in union. 

2158. "Organic life is an aggregation of these primitive spir- 
itual elements. 

2159. "The law of chemical affinity, of every form of cohe- 
sion, of every human desire, of all love and affection, is but a man- 
ifestation of the affinity of positive and negative spirit ether as- 
serting itself in organic aggregations of the positive and negative 
spirit atoms. 

2160. "Suns and systems of suns and worlds are organic 
evolutions of this eternal spirit ether, of this eternal life element. 

2161. "One form of this eternal life ether is known to you 
by the name oxygen gas, which, along the line of organic aggre- 
gation, you begin to see in protoplasm. But it is with the atomie, 
as you understand the atomie, and far back of what you under- 
stand the atomie to be. 

2162. "Oxygen is found with, if not to be, the veritable 
spirit ether. 

2163. "But you must know that even a spirit, whose dura- 
tion as organic entity only spans a few years at most, cannot 
know all things. 

2164. "You must also presume that a knowledge of infinity 
would require an infinite duration to obtain. 

2165. "Evolution is the life of the spirit ether as an unfold- 
ing rosebud, or an outward-rolling kaleidoscope continually, more 
and more, asserting its own eternal dominion from within as it 
rolls off and back the no longer needed former aggregations of its 
coarser expressions. 

2166. "Here is where your reason may get a glimpse of how 
your beginning of an aggregated personality may never termi- 
nate, or how there may be a beginning of individualized life with- 
out, necessarily, an ending. 

2167. "But you say: 'There is a God that carries on all this 
business.' 

2168. "If there were a God, as you claim there to be, the 
universe would be flooded with blood. 

2169. "Friends, I have been here some time, and, so far, I 
have failed to find that man you call God. 

2170. "I find law. law of' nature. 

(a) "Nature is inherently endowed with power and wisdom 
to take care of herself. 

(b) "Where did she get the wisdom? 



358 RENDING THE TAIL. 

2171. "From the eternal life of the illimitable realm of spirit 
ether. 

(a) "Nature was always endowed with innate self-acting 
intelligence, and always will be. 

(b) "Law of Nature, or simply Nature, expresses all there is 
of creative energy. 

(c) "Use that wording and you will be understood. 

2172. "If you use the old word, 'God,' you are not under- 
stood aright. It is presumed you mean a person, a being, that has 
the whole of all things under his thumb and has but to command, 
as some mighty general or potentate, and at his bidding things 
to be or not to be. as he in his capriciousness sees cause to dictate. 

2173. "No, frier ds, don't use those old bottled-up words and 
phrases intended to express false theological notions; but stay 
close to Nature, and in her loving embrace, and you cannot go 
far wrong. 

"Use words, therefore, as near as you can, in accord with 
Nature." 

Oration No. 29. (750.) 

Psycliometry. 

2174. "Rain is by chemical action. Concussion will not pro- 
duce it. When the atmosphere is dry and by chemical action be- 
comes damp, then you have precipitation or rain. 

(a) "I believe I have heretofore given you a talk concerning 
the philosophy of rain. 

2175. "As the gentleman and lady were talking to-day about 
psychometry, I wish to say a word now in that relation. One 
phase of it is this: 

(a) "If, by touching or placing to the forehead an article 
that has imbibed the magnetism of a person, you are enabled to 
read or relate more or less of the character and disposition of that 
person — that is psychometry. 

Cb) "A good psychometrist will take a letter that was writ- 
ten by a person, and place the letter against his forehead and 
read the letter and tell you the individual characteristics of 
the writer — can give his disposition. That is one phase of 
psychometry. 

(c) "Place a geologic specimen in the hands of a good psy- 
chometrist, and he will give you the geologic history of that spec- 
imen. This also is psychometry. 

2176. "The ability to give the natural history of an object 
without the aid of any of the five senses is psychometry. 

2177. "Your lives are composed of particles; each has a 
meaning. Psychometry discerns and analyzes these particles and 
reads the meaning of each. 

"You friends seem not to be interested. You are too quiet. 
I can get at you better if you talk a little." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 359 

Some one remarked: "We don't want to disturb you, and we 
all wish to hear you talk." 

Spirit: kk I wish to say to my good brother over there [Mr. 
Willis], that when he gets on the rostrum he will find inspirations 
come better in a little noise than in strict quiet, and we hope to 
soon be able to see you speaking to multitudes. Let the minds 
of your audience be kept active, not too quiet. Now r , my friend, 
be sure to try this the first chance you get, and you wall be 
astonished at results. 

"And that other brother over there [Mr. Staunton] : Go on 
with your well-begun work. I hope you may be rewarded before 
coming here. You ought to be rewarded, anyway, and you shall 
be rewarded over here. Press on in the good cause. You may 
have some martyrdom to suffer; indeed, you will suffer in the 
w 7 ork : 

(a) "For persecutions will come upon the faithful. 

"If those martyrs of the past had been understood, how much 
they could have done!" 

Oration No. 30. (775.) 

Man, Life, Spirit, Intelligence, and Knowledge Are All Gaeternal. — 
Schools in Spirit Life. 

2178. "You will find I speak of life and knowledge in this 
little paper. \ 

(a) "Some writers claim there is no knowledge except as a 
result of material organization. 

(b) "Let me say to you that knowledge is from the same 
source as life — that is, from spirit. A man may be a child as to 
being in the possession of knowledge; but knowledge, intelli- 
gence, spirit, and man are all.coeternal. 

(c) "Man must have always existed; but there is no man 
without spirit, nor spirit without man, nor knowledge without 
both. 

2179. "Hence we say that man, spirit, and knowledge are 
coeternal. 

(a) "Beyond doubt I can demonstrate this proposition. 
(o) "While on earth I could only trace life to protoplasm. 
(c) "Now it is easily traced to spirit, which is eternal life. 

2180. "We have plants, insects, vegetables — everything you 
have w T e have, but w r ith us it is different. Our vegetables are not 
like your vegetables, of gross material; but ethereal — the essences 
of yours. Our world of organic life is an exact counterpart of 
yours; but wiiile yours is material, ours is ethereal — spiritual es- 
sence of all earthly things — ours as types of yours. 

2181. "This may appear more logic than sense. Logic views 
things in relation to each other, but what you call sense some- 
times fails to see the relation. Those failing to see such relation 



360 RENDING THE VAIL. 

are ready to say of him who does that he has more logic than 
sense. 

2182. "I seem to be wound up this evening. I wish someone 
would pull the string and let me run down. Farewell. I hope 
your friends on this side will watch over, care for, and protect 
you : and when you approach these shores, your friends who have 
passed on before will welcome you home to this fair country, 
where storms of earth will no more trouble your trembling, uncer- 
tain conditions.'' 

2183. A little later this spirit, standing in the cabinet door, 
and engaged in a general social chat with the circle, on various 
matters suggested by the circle, said: 

"All planetary bodies are inhabited by human beings, either 
carnate or decarnate or both. 

(a) "Each planet is made the home of some decarnates, 
whose home while carnate was some other planet, (h) But some 
planets are inhabited only by excarnates. (c) I have not yet 
known or learned of the existence of any spirits not produced on 
some planetary body by the general laws of generative production. 

2184. "We have schools here and many thousands of 
teachers. 

(a) "But our manner of learning and teaching is very differ- 
ent from most of yours. We do not teach by vicar as you do, nor 
do we learn in that way. Here each one teaches himself, each 
learns for and of himself, (b) The pupil is not forced to school, 
and, when there, is not forced to secure and appropriate to him- 
self the acquirements of some other mind, (c) As the pupil moves 
about he sees something that attracts his attention. He exam- 
ines the object, (d) His teacher is near and sees that he is 
interested and wishes to know something about it. (e) Teacher 
calls attention to some peculiarities of the object. (/) Pupil be- 
comes delighted, sees some of its adaptations, its relations to 
something else, is shown that something else, and again is 
delighted. 

2185. "This is our mode. Under it the pupil learns much 
more rapidly — by his own free will — not as of a burden, a task, 
but a great pleasure. 

(a) "These facts are stored away in the pupil's own being. 
(b) He soon has a great book of facts thus stored away, (c) In 
his silence he recalls these facts, (d) This recalling is active 
memory, (e) This is reading the book, (f) The pupil goes on 
and makes more such books to read. 

2186. "So here the pupil teaches himself, makes his own 
books, educates himself, all the while — ad infinitum." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 361 

Oration No. 31. (817.) 

Phenomena and the Rostrum. 

2187. "My friends, before you came into this room this 
evening, we heard you discussing the phenomena and the rostrum. 

(a) "I want to say to you, my friends, phenomena is the 
only efficacious means of propaganda. 

(b) "When I was in the physical, I did much lecturing; and 
I do not now believe that I ever made one convert to Spiritualism 
by lecturing. 

(c) "I found that my lecturing was mostly theory. People 
do not want theory. Such as would embrace Spiritualism want 
the truth. 

(d) "I found Spiritualism true. I met that gentleman 
[pointing to the secretary], and he it was who pointed me to the 
way of learning this great truth. So I investigated the phenom- 
ena, and found that to show forth clearly a future life. 

(e) "I wanted the world to know it, but I do not think my 
lectures ever convinced one person of the fact. 

if) "You must have the proof. You want no hearsay, no 
doubtful evidence. 

2188. "Now. I wish to say to you that the mere inspirational 
speaking, taken alone, is doing no good. The majority of the in- 
spirational speakers are throwing stumbling-blocks in the way. 
Were it not for* the phenomena that overcome them and all oppo- 
sition, they soon would hardly have a corporal's guard in their 
hearing. 

(a "They say, and it may be true, that they are inspired. 
But how are you to know that? 

(b) "They shut their eyes and say they are entranced. How 
do you know that? 

(c) "They give you grand discourses, they say. How much of 
this is simply natural to them? You don't know. 

(d) "How much of it they have committed to memory, and 
give out to you as a comedian would, you don't know. 

(e) "They say: 'Away with the phenomena, and then you 
will have pure Spiritualism.' 

2189. "I say to you again : Pure Spiritualism rests on pure 
unquestioned and unquestionable facts; and that one such fact, 
though seen in a thousand feet of mud, is worth more to him 
that wants to know than a thousand doubtful inspirational theo- 
rizing. You must have facts all the time. 

2190. "Then philosophy to pick up and clothe the facts, to 
take the dross from around the facts, and to set the facts in glit- 
tering jewels. 

(a) "Some inspirationals, in their pride, would trail before 
their audiences the phenomenal; thinking to be themselves tossed 
up on admiring fingers thereby; yet they get their real gems from 
the spirit and the phenomena. 



362 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(b "Suppose I were in the physical and lecturing on im- 
mortality, what could all my lecturing do unaccompanied by the 
facts? 

2191. "The facts and the speaking should go together. 

(a) "The speaker that closes the eyes can speak better thus 
perhaps, but that is nothing to any but the speaker. I want to 
tell you that that great wheel-horse [E. V. Wilson] did more good 
than all of your speakers of to-day unaccompanied by the phe- 
nomena. Why? Because he presented unquestionable psychic 
facts in connection with his teaching. 

(b) "How much speaking would it require to prove to you 
that twice two are four? All the speaking you could do to the 
child, unaccompanied by the proper set of facts, would never have 
the child to know the truth of mathematics. 

2192. "Yet there is a cry: 'Down with the facts!' [the 
phenomena], and set up another organization for idolizing 
theorizers." 

Oration No. 32. (818.) 

The Spirit Meets the Charge of Plagiarism. 

2193. "We are charged with plagiarism here. Yon will not 
find direct quotations in my writings. Of course if I ask you a 
question and your answer is 'Yes,' and you in turn ask me a ques- 
tion requiring an affirmative answer, and I say 'Yes,' the word 
'yes' used by me would not in any sense be a quotation from 
your speech. All the words we use here may, perhaps, be found 
in some dictionary; yet who ever thought of charging plagiarism 
to the person who in speaking or writing uses words that are 
found in the dictionaries? 

2194. "It would be utterly impossible for man or spirit to 
speak or write extendedly on any subject without, to a great ex- 
tent, using words and ideas that have been expressed by another. 

2195. "The thought of one person may be the same as that 
of a thousand others at widely separated places, and the expres- 
sion of the thought may be, by many of them, in exactly the same 
words; and yet the whole matter original as to each one of the 
thousand persons. 

2196. "The very thought of evolution itself is no new thing. 
It was known and taught before that person who now charges 
Faraday with stealing Faraday's own words was born. That 
good friend claims that Prof. Faraday, through him, said certain 
things about evolution. 

2197. "Now this Mr. Faraday comes here and, through his 
own temporary organism, endeavors to say something more about 
evolution, tracing it back to the concentration of all that exists 
as embryonic in the atom; and, in doing so, expresses some of 
his ideas, to a limited extent, in some of the words used or alleged 
to have been used by him on a former occasion. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 363 

2198. "Now, sir, do you suppose that Mr. Faraday, in en- 
deavoring to demonstrate, by his writing and speaking, that he 
is Faraday and that he has lost none of his Faradayic mentality, 
would do so by using the thoughts and ideas of some other 
personage? 

2199. "No, sir; he would connect and interweave and inter- 
blend his known personality while in the physical, and since, 
with his present personality, to demonstrate that there is a Fara- 
day in spirit the identity of the Faraday once in the physical. 

2200. "How are you to know us unless the writings and say- 
ings you receive from us savor of what you know of us while in 
the physical? 

2201. "When I was on your earth delivering lectures abuut 
over the country, I said at one place nearly or quite the same 
things in the same way that I had said at some other time and 
place. And, when in Kansas, I did not say: 'This is a quotation 
from Mr. Denton when he spoke in Boston.' Nor did I say: 'Mr. 
Denton has heretofore spoken these same things.' 

2202. "So, Mr. Faraday does not think it necessary to mark 
as a quotation what he may have said at some other time. 

2203. "Beside, sir, if you are going to hunt out and mark 
utterances we make here that are paralleled by someone else, you 
will wish for the restoration of the great Alexandrian Library. 

2204. "Where we have used the expressions of someone else, 
we have not done so to illustrate the same thought, in the same 
connection, as I think you will find. 

2205. "Suppose that, w T hile on earth, you knew my individ- 
uality by my general physical make-up. 

2206. "Now, in order that you may know me from my ma- 
terialized make-up to be the same identity as the William Denton 
you formerly knew, I must make up and be presented to you as 
you are most likely to remember how I appeared in the physical. 

"Is that not so? Else, how could you recognize my 
materialization?" 

Several persons of the circle answer: "Yes." 

2207. Denton: "Well, in order that I may be intellectu- 
ally identified, I must write as I wrote while in the physical. I 
must write upon the themes that most engaged my thoughts 
while in the physical. 

(a) "And the very first thing you will say is: 'If this is Prof. 
Denton, why does he not reproduce some of his writings and 
speeches bv him while in the physical?' 

(1)) "Hence, we do reproduce some parts of what we wrote 
and spoke while on earth. Would you otherwise recognize us?" 

(c) We answer: "Certainly net." 

(d) Denton: "Well, that settles this question of plagiar- 
ism, once for all." 



364 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Vocalization No. 33. (857.) 

A Spirit May Ultimately Attain to Sufficient Wisdom to Construct a 
Solar System. — Very Ancient Spirits Did Much in Build- 
ing This. — Jehovah a Myth. — Swedenborg 
and Spirit Guides. 

The spirit, standing in the cabinet door, said: "Is there any- 
thing you would have me talk about this evening?" 

2208. Question : "Is it a fact that a human spirit may ulti- 
mately attain to such intelligence, wisdom, and control of ele- 
ments and forces as to be able to construct a solar system similar 
to our own solar system?" 

(a) Spirit: "It is really a fact." 

2209. Question: "Were all worlds now in existence so 
constructed?" 

(a) Spirit: "Not all; but some of them were. Your own 
earth was builded by some very ancient spirits. 

(b) "You, in the physical, attain to a great proficiency ? n 
the power to control the physical elements. 

(c) "We, in spirit, with illimitable time to pursue our inves- 
tigations, ultimately attain to such developments as to be pos- 
sessed of almost infinite power over all elemental forces." 

2210. Question: "Was the Jehovah of the Jews one of 
those human spirits so highly developed?" 

(a) Spirit: "I know no such man. That Jewish Jehovah 
was a myth. You ask for Jehovah or God, and they tell you he 
is just across the street, in yonder fine mansion, (b) You go 
there to see him, and they tell you to go on to the next house. 
(c) God does not dwell here. And on and on you go in the fruit- 
less search after your personal God, until some time along the 
endless highway you learn that you are making a vain search." 

2211. Question: "Swedenborg says that 'none exist with- 
out a guardian spirit.' Is he correct?" 

(a) Spirit: "Man cannot, or, rather, does not exist without a 
guide. Every idea you have is given you from this side of life. 
A great many speakers and writers claim their ideas as original, 
but they are mistaken. 

(b) "Their ideas are nearly all second-hand. Very few peo- 
ple are cognizant of the presence of their guides. Your guide 
is sent to you by a committee. If such is found incompetent, he 
is removed and another put in his place, until the proper guide 
for your case is obtained." 

Oration No. 34. (860.) 

Alcoholism. — Bicarbonate of Gold. — Obsessing Influences and 

the Bemedy. 
Spirit: "Have you any subject for this evening?" 

2212. Miss Moore : "Is the bicarbonate of gold preparation 
for the cure of drunkenness permanent in its effects?" 



RENDING THE TAIL. 365 

(a) Spirit: "No, it is not. The only remedy for drunken- 
ness is the stoppage of the sale, the abolition of the traffic, of the 
business." 

2213. Question: "Is drunkenness a disease?" 

(a) Spirit: "Not in the ordinary sense. Drunkenness is 
caused from spirits on this side of life. (&) The habit formed 
while in the physical forms an abnormal appetite for strong drink, 
which adheres to the spirit on this side, giving him a thirst for it. 
(c) Persons who drink attract such spirits about them, who in- 
fluence them on to a habit, (d) And the person who keeps the 
company of persons addicted to strong drink falls under the con- 
trol of such guardian spirits, and so is led on by unseen and 
unrecognized influences. 

2214. "There is one w T ay to reform: by will-power. A firm 
determination to break away from the habit, and abandonment 
of the old associates and choosing of other and different influ- 
ences attracts other and different spirits with a w r ill-pow 7 er to 
overcome the obsessing spirits, (a) Then these spirits seek other 
channels for the satisfaction of their perverted appetites, and 
leave their old captive free, (b) Then, as long as by your will- 
power you keep the company of temperate spirits, you are safe. 

(c) But spirits of strong will-power overcome the w T eak, and 
while the victim is drunk he is all the more easily obsessed. 

(d) Suppose you turn to be a thief, a murderer; you attract 
around you spirits of like passions, and you are driven on in your 
mad career. 

2215. "That gentleman over there w r ould associate with you 
, until he w T ould see whither you are leading. If he be a moral 

man, he will break away, because his own guides will assist him 
so to do; but if he should have a constitution susceptible of low T 
influences, he is apt to fall under the control of your spirits of 
passion and be led on with you. 

221G. "You reach the spirit world wuth the passions you had 
on earth, and you attract and are attracted to like spirits, and you 
seek to satisfy those passions in the magnetisms of persons yet 
in the physical. And whenever you suffer the physical to submit 
to such controls, you are on the road to destruction. 

2217. "All of these debasing influences are of spirits not 
progressed and that do not now desire to be elevated or to reach 
higher. But by and by, he fails to find gratification; then con- 
siders, slowly turns about, and ultimately is schooled above this 
low T condition. 

2218. "Could your world understand these laws, you would 
soon be a race of better men and women." 



366 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Vocalization No. 35. (892.) 

Materialization. 

2219. In low oral tones: "Friends, I was speaking the other 
evening touching somewhat upon materialization, and will at this 
time endeavor to continue that theme. 

(a) "You notice unfolding nature in springtime; the little 
blue violet, buttercups and daisies, blooming orchards, the sweet- 
scented bed of roses in the young summer, the summer foliage 
of the trees — all this beautiful unfolding is 'materialization' in 
evolution. 

(b) "The golden harvest, the ripened fruitage of your gar- 
dens, your fields, your vineyards and orchards, is materialization 
completed. 

(c) "See the snow, the beautiful snow crystals, hoary frost, 
the great glaciers, frozen oceans. 

id) "Young worlds fresh from the hands of Pluto! All is 
materialization. 

2220. "Two conditions of elementary substance — positive 
and negative, male and female. The affinity of the one condition 
for the other produces motion, and motion is force and creative 
energy. 

2221. "The law of materialization is the law of chemical and 
spiritual affinity, which, again, is the law of the positive and neg- 
ative seeking companionship. 

"Here w r e have the law of materialization dimly outlined." 
And the spirit vanished. 

Oration No. 36. (900.) 

Davis and the Great Central Sun of the Interior Universe. — A Mis- 
take. — Cause of Oscillations of Physical Solar Sys- 
tems. — Heart Failure. 

2222. Spirit Denton, standing in the cabinet door, said: 
"Now tell me w 7 hat you will have." 

To which the secretary made answer: "Go on with the great 
central sun of the interior universe, and get it out of the way." 

Then, in low but clear oral tones of voice, the spirit said: 

(a) "I have told you that in the material universe there are 
millions of great planetary systems, and that each planetary sys- 
tem has its great central sun, by the great gravity force of which 
each subordinate body of a given system is held in subjection. 

(o) "These solar systems that constitute the 'starry heavens' 
exhibit oscillations, perturbations, and various wandering mo- 
tions akin to those of planetary motions. 

2223. "But these discernible motions of the suns of the uni- 
verse are not so much caused by the existence of some far-away 
mighty central sun as by reciprocal gravitation of the one for 
the other and of all for each and of each for all others. So, like- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 367 

wise, the idea of a great central sun of the spiritual universe is 
erroneous. 

2224. "The great central sun of the interior universe is 
atomic life and is located in even' atom in the universe. There is 
no place so small or so great but that entertains the central abode 
of the great central sun of both the interior and exterior universe. 

kt I have told you before that the creative energy of each — 
the spiritual and material — has its abode in the atomic." 

2225. Question: "Are the sun and moon inhabited?" 

(a) Spirit: "We have before told you that both the sun and 
moon are inhabited, but by very differently constituted beings 
from yourselves." 

2226. "I wish now to speak a few words concerning what is 
called heart failure. 

(a) "Electricity and magnetism circulate the blood; and al- 
ternate making and breaking of the electro-magnetic current is 
done by heart vibration or pulsation ; and heart failure is simply 
a failure to make and break the electric and magnetic currents 
that circulate the blood. 

2227. "I now predict that inside the next ten years scien- 
tists will have learned these facts and invented a machine to con- 
tinue the flow of the electric and magnetic currents along the ar- 
terial and venous nerves to carry on temporary circulation until 
the heart by rest or medical aid be repaired, and thus the patient's 
life prolonged." 

Oration No. 36^. (913.) 

As Knowledge Increases, Mystery Vanishes. 

2230. From this on the reader may understand that, unless 
otherwise stated, this spirit Prof. Denton's speaking is through 
the trumpet, but in loud oral tones; so in this instance this spirit 
took the trumpet to his mouth, and, as an ordinary person would 
use the trumpet for speaking, spoke to us through the trumpet, 
thus: 

2231. "I desire to refer, for a little time, to Nature and to 
laws found in Nature. 

(a) "The flower is unfolded by certain law. 

Cb) "The vernal landscape is clad in beautiful green by fixed 
law. 

(c) "All things, animate and inanimate, organic and inor- 
ganic; and, of the organic, the fauna and flora of earth — all exist 
by law: some of which we may understand, much of which we do 
not understand, neither can we comprehend. 

id) "But the mysterious in Nature all fades away as we learn 
the law of the case. 

2232. "Spiritualism is mysterious only to those who do not 
understand it. 



368 RENDING TEE TAIL. 

(a) "When you learn of the laws governing Spiritualism,' its 
mysteries, to you, will all be gone. 

(b) "Franklin bottled up the electrical elements and learned 
much of the law of electrical action, for declaring which he was 
scoffed and ridiculed. But when Franklin's discoveries were 
proven as facts beyond dispute, the scoffers about-faced, saying: 
'What of it? That 's no new thing. We always knew that.' Of 
course, 'There is nothing new under the sun.' All that is now has 
existed before; but there is much yet for a great many mortals, 
and spirits also, to learn in regard to electricity as a force. 

\c) "No reasoning soul, to-day will deny that electricity is 
a force; yet very few if any mortals fully comprehend the law of 
electrical force. 

(d) "You know I talk here. 

(e) "You do not know how. 

(/) "And even if you were here in spirit life, you might not 
understand." 

Here the light was so mismanaged as to destroy the form and 
it, of course, instantly vanished from our sight. (See 913 and on.) 

Oration No. 37. (930.) 

One Stage of Life, but Many Different Degrees of Development. — The 
Child Does Know Much Even When First Born. 

2233. In answer to question No. 1 of the J. H. Pratt series, 
the spirit, in good oral tones, said: 

(a) "Your question is somewhat difficult to elucidate clearly 
to your minds, for want of sufficient, or, rather, correct informa- 
tion on your part along these lines. 

(b) "You speak of three stages of existence, whereas it is all 
one stage of existence, but three or more stages of development. 

(c) "You say: 'When a spirit is born into this life [that is, 
into the earth life], it is ignorant; does not remain so, but may 
gain much knowledge early on the earth plane; but lose it all in 
age; pass to spirit life and there rapidly gain in knowledge.' 

(d) "Now it is a mistake that you are devoid of knowledge 
when first born into the earth life. The newborn babe does know 
something. Really it knows much. You have but to think a 
little to know this fact." 

2234. Here Dr. Gile suggested to the spirit that there be 
stages of existence; one for foetal gestation of the physical form, 
one for gestation in the physical form of the spirit man, and the 
third for higher attainments in spirit life. 

(a) Denton: "No, sir; I do not agree with you there. You 
have one stage of life, and that whole stage is for development, 
for unfoldment. 

(b) "There are many different degrees of development. 

(c) "Different persons attain to different degrees of develop- 
ment while on the earth plane. One person may attain to a great 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 3(59 

development in twenty-five years of earth life, while another may 
fall far short in the earth life, but reach the given attainment in 
spirit life. An infant in the first five years of its earth life may 
reach attainments not acquired by another in thirty or forty 
years; thus showing that the one had five or six times, in foetal 
life, the foetal development of the other in its foetal life. And the 
latter may pass to spirit life before attaining to the development 
of the former in its foetal life. 

(d) "To us, then, it is all one stage of endless development. 
What is not reached in the foetal and earth career is attained in 
spirit life. Some are as ignorant when born into spirit life as 
others when born into earth life. 

(e) '''Loss of memory is not loss of knowledge in the 
absolute." 

The spirit here referred to what he had said elsewhere, and 
asked the secretary: "Do you understand?" 

Secretary: "Yes, sir." 

Spirit: "Then I need not repeat. T cannot hold my form 
longer. Get it all down." 

Then the spirit retired into the cabinet. 

As the spirit entered the cabinet Bessie said: "Say, Mr. 
Nixon, do you understand what he wants?" 

Secretary: "Yes, Bessie." 

Bessie: "All right then." 

2234J. The reader might be benefited if we here insert what 
the spirit refers to. While in the physical. Prof. Denton pub- 
lished a work called "The Soul of Things." 

(a) One of the objects of that was to make public his demon- 
stration that thought waves make indelible impressions upon sub- 
stances, and thus leave the image of the thought fixed thereon; 
and that every person entering a house leaves an image of his 
psychic self upon the walls and other materials of that house; 
and that such images are clearly discernible to decarnates, and 
also more or less so to incarnates whose spirits have become en- 
abled to act mora or less independently of the physical organism. 

(b) He also shows how that still more do all things and 
thoughts (thought things) indelibly fix their images upon the 
spirit sensorium of any person near to. 

(c) And he further set out that even after a person's own 
spirit by its physical condition is blind to the images fixed upon 
its own sensorium, and therefore can no longer remember them 
(as we say, have lost their memory), yet a sensitive carnate or 
excarnate can clearly discern the images there; and that there- 
fore when the physical obstruction be removed by release from 
the physical entire, or otherwise, the person again sees the image 
on his spirit sensorium, and this is a revival of memory. 

(d) And thus this very argument used by some against fu- 
ture existence is turned into a most powerful and incoutroverti- 



370 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

ble argument in favor of the indestructibility of the spirit mem- 
ory sensorium. 

Perhaps from this the reader may see an argument almost 
equal to that wonderful syllogism by which, it is alleged, Jesus 
put to silence the whole host of Sadducees as touching the resur- 
rection ("Ek ton nekronl 9 ) out of the dead body. 

Another thought that Denton used, when on earth, he seems 
to desire in connection here: 

2235. There are instances wherein persons have attained a 
good degree of intellectual manifestation, and suddenly at times, 
and other times gradually, lost all traces or nearly all traces of 
memory — the past a blank, and the subject an idiotic maniac — 
and in after years suddenly awoke to memory and intelligence of 
former self; thus showing that the intellectuality was not lost, 
was not dead, but that the physical condition prevented the ego 
from discernment; this fact in psychics showing that the image 
of the thought is not destroyed though not discernible by the sub- 
ject; and proving the further fact that there must be something 
enduring upon which the thought is imaged, which sometimes 
may as well be called soul as any name. 

[a) The spirit Denton reappeared, took the trumpet, and 
through it spoke to question No. 2 of Mr. Pratt's series, thus: 

2236. "A great many things you see and know to be facts, 
but you do not understand — you do not see the how. 

(a) "You see us here, but do not know how or see how it is ; 
yet the same law by which materialization is done gives the 
various inks and coloring matter. We find elements in the air 
about us, in the plants and flowers near us, which elements we 
collect and condense into a liquid of such color and consistency 
as we desire; and frequently we construct a temporary machine, 
and use this liquid on the machine, and impress our designs, much 
as vou would use a printing press." 

1 2237. Question: "What is the mind?" 

(a) Spirit: "The mind is the ego, the self, the man, mani 
fest in the body and through and by it; which, being susceptible 
of independent conscious existence, finally leaves the tenement 
of clay and lives on in intelligent consciousness without the 
tenement." 

2238. Question: "What is the soul of man?" 

(a) Spirit: "As we understand, mind and soul are the same. 
Learned people suppose that because they can find no soul, nor 
any place for one, therefore there is no such thing. These wise 
people forget that they have never discovered the oak in th^ 
acorn or any life-germ there. To be consistent, they should say: 
'No use to plant that acorn; we, the great scientific finders, find 
no life-germ there; therefore there is none.' " 



RENDING THE VAIL. 371 

Oration No. 38. (948.) 

Mind Not Lost in Transition. 

2239. As the spirit Prof. Denton stood forth to discourse, 
Dr. Gile addressed the spirit thus: "Mr. Denton, Andrew Jack- 
son Davis informs us thac the mind is, with the body, dropped 
at transition, and is not a concomitant of the spirit thereafter. 
Is Davis correct?" 

(a) Spirit: "Unless the mind go with the spirit, how would 
you know of the individuality? If the mind is the expression of 
the spirit and the spirit lose its power of expression, how could 
it express itself? The individuality gone, identity is lost and 
future life a myth. Your reason must teach you that, if there be 
future life, Davis is wrong in that theory, if such be his theory. 

2240. "To us, in spirit life, the individuality, the ego, the 
soul, the spirit, are but word signs of one and the same thing, 
Davis is not correct : for it is a well-proven fact that individuality 
is not lost in the transition/' 

Dr. Gile: "Well, that is Davis' teaching, and I am consider- 
able of a Davis man." 

2241. The voice of Bessie in the cabinet: "Say, Doctor, Mr. 
Davis was not dead yet, but Denton now speaks from the spirit 
side. Which knows the better, Davis in the mortal or Denton in 
the immortal? Davis, it is true, may have been giving what 
some spirit endeavored to give him, and they may have gotten it 
mixed up." 

Vocalization No. 39. (952.) 

Law of Vision. 

2242. To the question, "Is the resultant of vision brought 
about by force?" the spirit answers: 

(a) "Yes, sir. All resultants in nature are force. The retina 
of the eye is somewhat symbolized by the sensitive film of the 
plate of the photographer. 

2243. "Light is ethereal motion, which motion is a mode of 
force. This force is modified by reflection, and an exposed plate 
receives impressions of both the direct and reflected rays. The 
reflected rays, being variously modified by the different points of 
the reflecting surface, make a corresponding impression on the 
sensitive film, and thus produce the image, in outline, of the re- 
flecting surface or object. 

2244. "Exactly so in vision. The retina, as the sensitive 
plate, receives impressions in like manner, which, in contact with 
the spiritual sensorium, enables the spirit to sense or feel the 
effect of the different degrees of force manifest on the retina and 
converts this sensation into objective vision. 

2245. "But the law of vision with you has its counterpart 
here, onlv in a higher and grander reality. 



372 RENDING THE TAIL. 

2246. "Of these forces every thing, every home is builded in 
the spirit world, and reflected to mortals, and sensitive minds 
catch the reflected force from spirit life; and thus much of our 
grandeur is caught and reproduced on earth. And all is force, 
motion." 

Oration No. 40. (964.) 

Life and Its Origin. — The Still-born. 

2247. In answer to the question, "What is life and its ori- 
gin?" spirit Denton, through the trumpet, said: 

"That question has heretofore been discussed at length. 

(a) "Life has always existed. (b) When on earth, I traced 
life back to protoplasm; but, since coming here, I get back from 
protoplasm to (c) molecule, and to the (d) atomie. (e) I had studied 
Darwin. (/) Darwin's idea is different from mine. What I now 
see, he has only theory. I now have added some experience. Dar- 
win's theory has also some truth, but he seems to linger along 
the line that life is the effect of organization, is evolved from or 
an expression of organization. 

2248. "Whereas, I now find that organization is the effect of 
life, is life efforting to make itself manifest." 

2248^. After a moment's return into the cabinet, Denton re- 
appeared. To Dr. Gile's question, "What becomes of the still- 
born?" the spirit said: 

(a) "This subject, too, has been fully discussed before, but 
now I will say that such children and all children and all people 
are under the inexorable law of progression, and the race of man 
must climb toward the topmost of the ladder." " 

Oration No. 41. (964.) 

Spiritualism Has Always Existed. — Source of Material for the Forms. 

2249. Spirit Denton, to the question, "Is not Spiritualism 
the first religion known that venerated and worshiped the bound- 
less infinite?" spoke through the trumpet, saying: 

(a) "Spiritualism has always existed, always will exist. Of 
course it is the oldest religion. Man is born in the spirit. 

(b) "Spiritualism has, from time to time, been somewhat dim 
and feeble, but is destined to grow with the coming ages, and can 
not be crushed to extinction." 

2250. Then the spirit noticed the position of some, that it is 
absurd to assert the materialization of thirty or forty forms at a 
single seance : for it would require all the material of all the per- 
sons in the circle and annihilate the medium's body. Said the 
spirit : 

(a) "Such critics may not always be exceedingly wise, nor 
do they correctly report our claims. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 373 

(b) "We allege that we get the materials for the forms from 
the medium, from the sitters and from the elements in the 
atmosphere. 

(b) "Now, the atmosphere is quite extensive. Materials for 
the fauna and flora of the whole earth are largely taken from the 
atmosphere. We do not necessarily use the same material for 
successive forms, but may do so; and often we do, where the mag- 
netic conditions will permit. 

(c) "Inharmonious soul-vibrations in the circle make draft 
on medium more burdensome. For this and other reasons we are 
not able at times to present as many forms as at other times." 

Oration No. 42. (980-981.) 

Of the Natural Force and Faculties of Man. 

2251. Spirit Denton, standing forth, asked for the questions. 
The secretary read Nos. 977, 978, 979. 

On the reading of these questions, another form appears at 
the writing-desk and writes, and the controls inform us that Wes- 
ley Aber at the desk writes as Prof. Denton at the cabinet door 
dictates; and Wesley, writing one page, handed it to tne secretary 
to read and say whether it answered the first of the three ques- 
tions. The secretary read it aloud, and this writing is credited to 
Wesley Aber as his No. 7, although Denton's dictation. 

2252. Then Denton spoke to us, saying: "I will not touch 
upon the first of the three questions. Would rather leave that 
for Wesley to finish up. 

(a) "As to the others, I know no other way, but that he [the 
questioner] wants to know of the natural force of the elements 
and faculties in man. 

2253. "Yes, I believe every individual is endowed with those 
faculties and every one of them for a purpose, and that purpose 
that these natural forces may express the man. 

2254. "There is nothing in nature but what is essential ; and, 
consequently, each department of nature is equally moral with 
every other department. Nature expresses herself, her forces, 
through compartments or organs. 

2255. "Nature is the great builder, the divine architect, and 
man the organ of her highest expression. Scientists will fail in 
their search for some force outside of Nature: for there is no 
other force than Nature." 

2256. The spirit retired into the cabinet a moment, then re- 
turned, took the trumpet, and to the question as to what per cent 
of the Bible is true, said : 

(a) "Take Spiritualism out of the Bible and no more of it is 
true. 

Cb) "While there is much in the Bible corroborative of Spir- 
itualism, the whole Bible is without authentication, farther than 



374 RENDING THE VAIL. 

that it is traceable to the pagans; but when you get there, the 
pagans do not know where they got it. So far as known to man, 
the Bible, in all its parts, is unauthenticated. 

(c) "Remember, friends, the Bible is without authentication. 
But I have discoursed of this matter before, and need not say 
more on that now. 

(d) "I may say that never at any time, since man passed to 
spirit life, has man in the mortal been without the privilege of 
spirit communion." 

Oration No. 43. (995.) 

The Bible as to Age, Authorship, and Authenticity. 

2257. "It has often been wondered: What the age, origin, 
and authenticity of the Bible? Touching this matter we have sev- 
eral times heretofore spoken. 

2258. "The Bible, as to original manuscript, is very old. 
Spirits of great antiquity are not able to authenticate it. As to 
the beginning, too, it is often wondered. 

2259. "Well, you had a father; your father had also a father; 
your father's father had a father. So we trace genealogy ten 
thousand, twenty thousand, even fifty thousand years. And ask 
a spirit whose boyhood was cotemporary with remote antiquity; 
that spirit had a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather, 
and so on ad infinitum. 

(a) "Hence we conclude that man always existed, some 
where, somehow. 

(b) ''Cotemporary with the earliest transition of man he has 
existed in spirit and been able in spirit to report back to what 
you call mortal man. 

(c) '-Hence Spiritualism is as old as man's first spiritual ex- 
carnate existence. 

(d) "Records of spiritual communion have, therefore, been 
made from the time of man's knowledge of making records. 

2260. "I have conversed with spirits who tell me of the 
island of the lost Atlantis. 

(a) "That it was at one time inhabited by a people far ad- 
vanced in civilization, from twenty thousand to fifty thousand 
years ago. (b) And, in conversation with some of these who claim 
to be of the lost Atlantis, I learn that there was then a Bible man- 
uscript, and that traces of that manuscript are yet found in jon v 
Bible, (c) The Bible was not then cut up into small bits, as now 
It did not then contain enough of fierceness to comport with man's 
passions and incompleteness in the different cycles of ages; and 
(d) hence it has, from time to time, been changed to suit the 
domineering minds of the various epochs of human existence. So 
that it seems impossible to reach a period of authenticity for 
original manuscripts or traditions of the Bible within the limits 
of infinity, excepting that it is safe to conclude that, (e) so far as 



RENDING THE VAIL. 375 

authentic, the origin of the Bible is to be found in or traced to 
spirit communion; or, in other words, in the communion of the 
saints." 

Oration No. 44. (1012.) 

Egyptian Pyramids. — Transporting and Hoisting into Place the Im- 
mense Blocks of Stone. 

226:!. (a) "It has been a query, among thinking people, for 
ages : 'Ilow were those stones moved, transported, and raised to 
their places in the pyramids?' 

(b) "Now, friends, it was an easy matter for those people 
who engineered that matter. They knew much more concerning 
electrical and spiritual force than people of this age upon the 
earth plane know. 

(c) "Taking advantage of their knowledge along this line, 
they made efficacious application of electro-spiritual force in the 
handling of these immense rocks in the structure of those wonder- 
ful pyramids of Egypt. 

(d) "When this lost knowledge shall again be attained by 
people of the earth plane, your engineers will be able to do even 
greater wonders by means of electro-spiritual force than any of 
the wonderful works of art of the ages gone by." 

Oration No. 45. (1018.) 

The Earth Has Belts Similar to Those of Jupiter. 

22(12 (a) Spirit: "Your earth has such belts, but they exist 
in a cruder condition than those of Jupiter and Saturn. 

(b) "Your earth has not always existed in its present form, 
nor has it always been a man-bearing planet. 

2263. "I have met spirits whose manhood began some twenty 
thousand and others of as high antiquity as thirty thousand years 
ago — that is a long time, (a) They say the earth is of very gre:it 
antiquity, (b) and so the existence of man upon it. (c) Yet the 
earth, as such, had beginning, (d) and man's existence upon it 
had also beginning." (2269.) 

2264. Inclement weather occasioned the absence of several 
of the circle on this occasion, and the spirit, referring to this, said: 
"I am sorry on account of the break in your circle. Mortals, some- 
times, think they have great trials and difficulties. While that is 
true, it is no less true that on this side we have trials, though 
in a different direction perhaps, but we generally persist until we 
overcome all. 

(a) "Here we have undertaken a work depending for success 
upon the presence of persons pledged to give us their aid by their 
presence. 

(b) "We are here for the work. 

(c) "The circle is not all here. 



376 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(d) "What, then? We must supply the deficiency as best 
we can from our side of life, for the work must go on. Did you 
but know of our difficulty in this kind of case, you would not 
disappoint an engagement with your spirit friends. 

(e) "I will leave farther answer to the questions with the 
medium's spirit brother, Wesley. I presume he is competent." 



Oration No. 46. (1026.) 

Man Planted in the Earth at the Planting of Earth. 

2265. Questions at paragraphs 1023, 1024, 1025, Pratt's se 
ries, the spirit Denton answers through the trumpet: 

(a) "The gentleman's first question this evening is correct, 
in the main, but perhaps I do not get the gentleman's statement, 
clearly. 

(b) "It requires intellectuality to think at all. Thinking is, 
therefore, intellectualizing. 

(c) "To think along vicious lines may be the result of inhar- 
monious or unbalanced development. But this, sooner or later, 
presents such fruits as would ultimately incline the subject to 
inquire into his own make-up, w T hich would be followed by reform. 

(d) "A person may be able to intellectualize to a- great de- 
gree, and yet be w 7 hat you would pronounce desperately vicious, 
as you understand viciousness. But man must think along some 
line — if not one, then some other. A man may be vicious along 
some lines and not others. 

(e) "His ceasing to think along certain lines may result in 
becoming vicious along those lines. 

if) "The Church says 'ignorance is bliss,' but it will wake up 
some day to find its awful mistake. It will find the brain is made 
to use, and the use of the brain leads to enlightenment at last; 
while, so long as disused, the subject is in relative darkness. 

2266. "As to another question, I have said here that man 
always existed; that, by help of higher intelligences, I have been 
able to trace man back through protoplasm and molecule to the 
atomie, and there is primordial eternal life. 

2267. "Your world is composed of the atomie in combination 
with atomie. Millions — innumerable millions of them constitute 
your earth. 

2268. "Man, therefore, w r as planted in your earth at the 
planting of the earth. 

2269. "And the atomic life, ever active, with endless dura- 
tion for its evolution into expression, finally molded the earth for 
a germinating garden, and finally budded and blossomed and 
brought forth man as ripening fruit upon the branches of this 
great round w r orld, as a tree of life. 

2270. "From science vou learn that matter is indestructible. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 377 

2271. "Your reason would tell you that the components of 
matter must also be indestructible. 

2272. "Hence all that is, always has been, must always be, 
in some way. 

2273. "I was an investigator when on earth. I am now an 
investigator. Spirits who have been in spirit life many ages tell 
us of certain events, of certain conditions, of certain revolutions 
of earth's history, and their words in this regard are being proven 
true by the various finds now continually being made all over 
your globe, and we have reported here, to you, many of the teach- 
ings of the ancient spirits aloug these lines." 



Oration No. 47. (1035.) 

Why the Greek and Roman Civilizations Declined with the Advance of 
Sacerdotal Christianity. 

2271. The spirit stood in view, and, through the trumpet, 
said: 

"Those people of the Greek and Roman nations were Yeiy 
imaginative, hence their mythological legends and traditions. 

2275. "The Christian priesthood and propagandists, seeing 
that mythology was the vulnerable trait of those civilizations, 
made a God out of Jesus, who would soon return to earth and set 
up his kingdom and sit upon a golden throne in a rebuilt Jerusa- 
lem, where gold would be so plentiful that it would be used for 
street pavements, and precious stones in such abundance as that 
the walls of the city of the enthroned Savior would be builded 
thereof and jasper would be glittering therein. 

2276. "When the Christian priesthood had turned the Greek 
and Roman mythological imagination in the direction of their 
Savior, who would descend from heaven accompanied by legions 
of angels, headed by one Gabriel, whose trumpet should summon 
the living and the dead to do homage to the returning Savior, 
then this same priesthood moved another point on the credulity 
of those people, to the effect that this Christian priesthood is 
Christ's vicegerent; and, finally, after capturing one outpost after 
another, had themselves in charge of the governments, and thus 
suppressed every school of learning and every social form inimical 
to the perpetuity of sacerdotalism, under the control of which 
those great civilizations went down, being supplanted by the dark 
ages. 

(a) "Unfolding humanity, to-day, is rising above the captiv- 
ity of this sacerdotalism, and above the mythological into the 
arena of reason, and sacerdotalism is turning its captives free, 
and mythology no more has the power, the dominion, over the 
civilizations that it once had." 



378 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Oration No. 48. (1051.) 

The Anti-Spiritual Movement. 

2277. Partly oral and partly through the trumpet, the spirit 
said: 

(a) "The controversy will be the means of eradicating much 
error from the Church, will bring the people to see more of the 
errors of the Church. That there is much corruption connected 
with the Church will be made more plainly to appear; and, in con- 
sequence, the people will seek an avoidance of much of this 
corruption. 

(b) "Not everything connected with Spiritualism is pure, 
J either. The fraudulent and genuine Spiritualism will also, to 

some extent at least, be separated. 

(c) "It is our design to weed out the fraud and spurious, as 
far as in our power, from Spiritualism as well as from the Church. 
Wherever there are false colors, we desire to have the people 
see them. 

(d) "It is our purpose to assist the people, as far as in our 
power, to learn the truth." 

2278. Denton, after a moment's retirement, reappeared and 
continued through the trumpet, in answer to questions at para- 
graphs 1047 and 1048, saying: 

(a) "The other evening I was talking to you about ignorance, 
and told you that the Church teaches that 'ignorance is bliss' and 
that the Church dogmas should be substituted for knowledge and 
reason. 

(b) "Go with me to India, at a time prior to the invasion of 
Christian ideas and methods, and I will show you a people intelli- 
gent, learned, and happy. They had their religion, but they had 
no god of war, no god of hatred, malice, vengeance; but one of 
love and peace. 

(c) "Roam with me all over those great Asiatic nations of 
the olden time, and you would not find the energies of the people 
exhausted in building engines, machines, and implements for de- 
struction of human life; but you would find the teaching, 'Love 
thy neighbor as thyself,' a living, practical reality; and not, as 
anion ir Christians, a dead letter. 

(d) "Now let us go to Africa, the wilds of Africa, where 
absolute ignorance reigns supreme: You find degradation, dark 
and deep, and cannibalism in some parts — and there, too, our 
Christian friends working up this heathenism as a parallel to all 
people having other than the Christian religion. 

(e) "When the facts are that not until Christian missionaries 
with Bibles and sword and cannon and alcoholic beverages in- 
vaded the lands of the Koran, the Vedas, and Zendavesta was 
there a criminal record among those people. 

(/*) "All nations and ages had their religion, their bible, their 
god or gods, but all of them put together would pale in their 



RENDING THE VAIL. 379 

criminal and sanguinary records, compared with such records of 
the onward march of the so-called Christian civilization, as day- 
light fades into darkness at going down of the sun." 

Oration No. 49. (1064.) 

Greek Civilization Superior to Roman. — When and How Man 
Became Individualized. 

2279. In answer to the question at paragraph 1061, the spirit 
stood to the sight of the circle, and, through the trumpet, said: 

(a) "Friends, of the Greek and Roman civilizations, that of 
the Greek was greatly superior, because of the Greeks' superior 
spirituality. 

(b) "The Greeks were well versed in spiritual forces, while 
the Romans were not. The highest forms of civilization must 
emanate from and by these spiritual forces. 

(c) "While some few of the Jewish people may have known 
much of the spiritual, yet they were not so far advanced, as a 
people, in spirituality as the Greeks. 

(d) "The Jews were more on a selfish, animal plane, and 
suppressed the spiritual exhibition of its force among the people 
at large, and this for selfish ends. 

(e) "According to the law of spirituality, this developed 
along the lower planes of the spiritual, and the reverse is true of 
the Greek. Hence the Greek brought forth much the highest civil- 
ization of the three. 

2280. "I desire to speak of another matter at this time. One 
J have mentioned heretofore, but not in detail. 

(a) "Friends, you live and breathe and move and think. Peo- 
ple lived ages and ages ago — suppose it was thirty thousand, fifty 
thousand, and more years ago. 

Cb) "Yet the evidences are that your earth had a beginning 
f o its power to produce life forms manifesting intelligence as 
man does. 

(c) "You ask how came the first man into individualized be- 
ing upon your earth? 

(d) "The answer comes from one source: 'God made him., 
ribs and all, out of clay; and made her out of one of the ribs.' 

(e) "But this answer assumes to be true the very fact in 
question: the origin of the clay that had the seed in it that, by 
proper tillage, would bring forth man? 

(/) "They tell us that your world was once one great molten, 
fiery mass, not susceptible of sustaining any kind of animal life. 
(a) "Admit this to be true. 

2281. "What do you know of in the universe that can with- 
stand fire? You have learned that spirit cannot be destroyed by 
fire, and this is of record : With the three was seen a fourth. 

(a) "What, then, was there when the foundations of your 
world were beinjx constructed out of this fierv mass? 



380 RENDING THE TAIL. 

2282. "A spirit was there, infusing spirit into every portion 
of the elements and materials out of which your great man- 
bearing planet was constructed. So that, when the world was 
finished, spirit was infused into every atom of it. 

2283. "This spirit that was there, in the beginning, still 
working up the materials preparatory to an individualized repro- 
duction of itself, step by step, slowly as the vast eons of ages 
went by, perfected the world with (a) man innate, and then set up 
a system of gestation to bring him forth, (b) At first, the simplest 
forms of animal life ; then, adding a little here and a little there, 
finally the earth brought forth (c) man, up through every condition 
and grade of the fauna and flora, exactly by the same (d) laws that 
each of you came into being to-day, only the gestation of to-day 
requires but little time, while the (e) gestative period of the first 
man of earth was, it may have been, millions of ages. 

2284. "So man in mortal to-day is a foetal angelic spirit, 
destined in the limitless ages of eternity to roll from off his 
angelic fingers another milky way of suns and systems of worlds 
bearing other innumerable millions of sentient beings." 

The spirit retired for a moment into the cabinet; then, com- 
ing out, again took the trumpet and proceeded, saying: 

2285. "Matter is indestructible. Its laws are immutable 
and indestructible as itself. No law of matter or spirit has ever 
been changed nor can be. 

(a) "Hence, as man comes now he came at first. 

2286. "But the special creationist has a God who is a per- 
sonal being and existed during a past eternity, and who, some 
time after having existed solitaire during an eternity past, con- 
cluded to make him a heaven, for part of himself, in which as an 
enthroned monarch to be, and the earth his footstool and man 
to bow at his feet and worship him eternally around his throne 
in heaven. 

2287. "But a personal being cannot be in two places at the 
same time. Hence his worshipers in one place see God after the 
similitude of themselves, and each has his own as the true and 
everlasting personal God, after his own elemental make-up. So 
that one element of the special creationists' god crowds out the 
other, according to predominance of selfishness and force of the 
different worshipers. 

2288. "Universal harmony can only reign when there shall 
be a universal recognition of a universal God element or principle, 
at work eternally past and future as now." 

Oration No. 49£. (1079.) 

The Itinerant Exposure. 

2289. An itinerant was giving a series of lectures at the 
Presbyterian church in exposure of Spiritualism, which was a 
theme of conversation among the circle just before the seance 



RENDING THE VAIL. 387 

way is written in blood, and it forges manacles for those who 
dare to question. Banish this God, and you will have liberty. Do 
away with the fables about an immortal soul, and the world will 
no longer be slaves to the fear of death. 

2319. "You have had enough of theories and myths and 
superstitions. What you want is demonstration. 

2320. "Friends, if mankind during all these ages had not 
been so amazingly narrow in their mental grasp, hiding, as it 
were, the universe by holding a single book too near their eyes; 
if they had dared to cultivate their reason and their spirit percep- 
tions, they could have gleaned the rich things there are now being 
revealed here to-night — they would have omitted that which was 
false and immoral. 

(Signed) «T. Paine." 

Writing No. 5. (814.) 

One Doctrine Alleged as Being Taught oy Jesus is Literally True: The 
Doctrine of Future Life. 

2321. "Friends, examine your Bible and see the mass of con- 
fused and contradictory nonsense deluding as to the teachings of 
the one you call Jesus. 

2322. "See the ridiculous light in which his character is 
represented, with qualities neither befitting a man or God, both 
of which he is represented to be; and his coming to the world 
in a most ridiculous and unnatural manner — assuming to have 
a mission which he never performed, to have power that he never 
exercised in defense of himself, or his friends ; and also assuming 
to be sent to people who would not receive him, and preaching 
his mission to those to whom he w r as not sent. 

2323. "And again, he proposes to be a man of peace, and 
that all mankind, by him, shall be blessed; yet he says that he was 
not sent to 'restore peace, but the sword.' 

2324. "If you will examine all of the writings of the New 
Testament, you will find them to be a compilation of his contra- 
dictory statements, predictions, absurdities, and mythical non- 
sense, too disgusting for good intelligent persons to read and 
give credence. 

2325. "There is one exception I will make as regarding my 
statements, and that is the doctrine of future life for man. That 
is actually true, as I have found it since coming here into spirit 
life. 

2326. "For eighteen hundred years the minds of men have 
been overspread with a gloomy, destructive superstition that has 
been entailed upon them. 

2327. "The Christian dogmas have enveloped the people with 
the grossest and darkest of ignorance, and it has prevented them 
from making any advances — moral or intellectual. 



388 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2328. "And nearly all those who have endeavored to en- 
lighten and liberate their fellow-men have been crushed out of 
the physical existence. 

2329. "Bloody wars have deluged your earth in nearly every 
country, as the result of the damnable doctrines that have been 
preached to mankind in the name of Jesus Christ. 

(Signed) "Paine" 

Writing No. 6. (845.) 

Why Does an Omnipotent God Permit Man Murders? 

2330. k 'I wish to remind you of many things which 1 think 
should be done, not to augment my interests, but the happiness 
of the universal family of mankind. 

2331. "In the first place, I earnestly desire to inform you 
that you are perfectly aware of an alleged Omnipotent Power 
with the disposition and habit of exercising the same at will. 

2332. "You gaze upon the greatness of the earth, upon its 
mighty waters, upon the glorious sun, upon the bright stars with 
which Nature has written on the skies; you look upon the wide- 
spread family, and call yourself one of them ! 

2333. "But from that combination of books which the pro- 
fessed followers call Holy Word of God you learn that he is re- 
siding in heaven, and yet he is a jealous, avenging, and revengeful 
God ! And from those pages you learn, also, that he is a perfect 
being, infinite in power, in goodness, in justice, in mercy, and in 
truth; and that he is omnipotent and omnipresent. 

2334. "Pardon me, friends, if I make this too strong. If he 
is infinite in goodness and the other named attributes, why does 
he permit man murders, 

Writing No. 7. (854.) 

(Continuing No. 6.) 

rapine and licentiousness? 

(a) "If he is disposed to render justice, why does he permit 
the strong to oppress the weak and helpless? And thus to mar 
the form of humanity with prostitution and slavery? I ask 
you, good people, can you accept such an ideal as the God? To 
believe in the literal signification of this passage this description 
for many ages has been as one of selfish terror, and millions of 
human beings have been rendered miserable in the belief that 
they were destined to eternally inhabit that frightful pit; and not 
only has the Roman Church inculcated the doctrine of eternal 
punishment in the flames of hell for everyone who denies its re- 
quirements, but the majority of the Protestant sects have taught 
the same degrading doctrine, and it is thus particularly set forth 
in the Protestant Episcopal Church. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 381 

began, and as soon as the medium entered the cabinet, the spirit 
Denton stepped out and continued the exposure theme, thus: 

(a) "Friends, why cannot those people pay their regards to 
the Mormons, Christian Scientists, or even to Catholicism, and 
not devote their whole time to an exposure of Spiritualism? 

(b) "Spiritualism must be greater, more powerful, in greater 
abundance than they are willing to confess. They must be fear- 
ful lest it get away with the cohorts of Christians. It must be 
putting their craft in danger. 'Aye, there 's the rub!' 

(c) "Could I speak loud enough for those people to hear me, 
I would say to them: 'Get off of the road. Spiritualism is on the 
track, with right of way.' 

(d) "Spiritualism is come to stay. Like a cannon ball, or 
Minie ball, fired into the ranks of an enemy sometimes makes 
great inroads among them, so Spiritualism goes into and among 
the cohorts of the opposition, driving all before it; hence the 
pleaders of old-time errors are frightened lest Spiritualism will 
take away their sandy foundations and let the orthodox struct- 
ure go tumbling down; as, indeed, it is rapidly doing. They begin 
to realize that the death struggle is on — but every effort to estop 
the onward march of Spiritualism is but one more nail in the 
coffin that will shortly hold their remains. 

(e) "Those who say they have been mediums and are now 
playing: into the hands of the opponents of Spiritualism have 
been fakes and ousted by intelligent Spiritualists. 

(f) "For, as a class. Spiritualists are the most intelligent 
and least superstitious people in the world. 

(g) "If Spiritualism were not true, it would have perished 
from the earth long ere this. 

Oration No. 50. (1091..) 

Meteoric Phenomena. 

2290. The question was asked by one of the circle: "What 
caused the falling of the stars November 13, 1855? Some claim 
it in fulfillment of biblical prophecy." Denton, in trumpet voice, 
replied : 

(a) "Those meteors, called 'falling stars' by some, are caused 
by natural law. Every thirty-three years your earth passes 
through the orbits of these planetary fragments, which enter your 
atmosphere at so great velocity as to be burned by atmospheric 
friction. This, then, is a fulfillment of natural law. 

2291. "The Bible, being founded on ignorance and supersti- 
tion, has nothing to do with meteoric phenomena." 

The spirit continuing, with "Music" as a theme, said: 

2292. "Music, you have heard said, 'has charms to soothe the 
savage mind 1 ; and, we may add, the civilized as well. While you 
people of earth revel in your highest, sweetest music, we in spirit 
life are enraptured by the harmonious symphonies of the 'music 



382 RENDING THE VAIL. 

of the spheres/ We have music here far beyond your highest con- 
ceptions; and not until you reach this glorious morning land will 
you know what sweet music is." 

Oration No. 51. (1100.) 

Summary. — Conclusion. — Exordium. — Benediction. 

2293. Spirit Denton, in visible form, stands before us, and 
with more than ordinary vigor and voice volume, through the 
trumpet, said: 

"Good-evening, friends. I see the gentleman [Mr. Pratt] has 
no subject for me to-night. Well, that is all right. 

2294. "I want you to say to him [his hearing was at times 
defective] that, as the evening shades are lengthening very rap- 
idly, and soon, according to the course of nature, his work on 
earth must close; 

2295. "That his friends on this side are glad to say to him 
that his determination to use his remaining physical force and 
finance in the good work of promulgating this grand, glorious, 
and ennobling truth gives them joy, and is building for him an 
habitation of which he will rejoice when he reaches this fair coun- 
try. There is no other way that he could have labored in his 
declining years that would have brought him so great reward. 

(c) "I want to say to all of you that this is a glorious work 
in which you mortals are joining with us now. 

2296. "Such a work has never before been accomplished: 
denizens of immortal glory so far rolling back the vail that sep- 
arates between the two worlds as for the spirits to stand clothed 
again as you did know them before their transition; and, in 
attitude perceptible to your sight and hearing and understanding, 
write to you, and talk to you, and illustrate to you of the evi 
dences of continued existence, and of the inexpressible beauty 
and grandeur of the immortal home of the soul. 

2297. "When you review and re-review our work, you will 
continually be more and more surprised at how it is builded. 
You will see every point well guarded against the most pointed 
darts of criticism. 

2298. "You will see that we begin with the simplest lessons 
and gradually take the student, step by step, along the whole 
psychic course until, when he is versed in our course, he will see 
an invulnerable structure. 

2299. "I want to say to you that we have a work here that 
will stand, and all the powers of the opposition to this sublime 
truth shall not avail to blot it out. 

2300. "Notice our work of art. 

(a) "Here comes a form — you see the form. 
(o) "The form has power of speech to the capacity of any 
of vou. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 383 

(c) "You hear its wonderful words. 

(d) "You, at the same time, see it stand before you in the 
attitude and expression of the highest eloquence. 

(e) "You see it writing, and you find it has written a wonder- 
ful writing. 

(f) "You find its penmanship a marvel in swiftness of exe- 
cution, construction, and scientific instruction. 

(g) "The form gives you its name, and while you are behold- 
ing the form, another form is seen by you. 

(h) "This other form says he is sketching the likeness of the 
former one, and with incredible swiftness executes a portrait and 
hands it to you ; and, lo ! you behold the picture of the person the 
first form said himself to be. 

2301. "Where on earth is the sane-minded person to gainsay 
or that is able to tear down our syllogism? 

2302. "No, friends, ignorance may throw mud, but reason, 
enlightened reason, must surrender to the psychic conclusion. 

2303. "I want to say to you that there is art in the spirit 
world. Art beyond the loftiest imagination of any intelligence 
while tabernacling in the tenement of clay. 

2304. "Could you conceive for one moment the most gifted 
artist in the mortal, after reaching his highest attainments on the 
earth plane, transplanted to a school where no hindering environ- 
ments are found, and continue in that school under the tutorship 
of high-spiritual intelligences for a thousand years, you might be 
able to form some faint conception of what an artist is in the 
spirit world; but it is not for the little children of earth, while 
in the mortal, to even dream of the grandeur of the artistic 
designs of high-spiritual intelligences. 

2305. "Oh, my friends! You will find this the real side of 
life. And you will find that, while all of the earth is transient and 
passeth away, the unspeakable glory, the arts, the sciences, the 
architecture of the spirit world are enduring! 

2306. "I warjt to say one word more now. Soon most of you, 
and but a little while at farthest, you will all pass to our side of 
life. We know the obstacles in your way. We know what some 
of you have had to endure and overcome. When it is yours to 
move out of the earthly house, then your friends gone before 
with outstretched hands will meet you at the gates and hold 
them ajar: while you, with your wealth of spirituality, pass into 
the eternal light and glory of the spirit world, and joyous, happy 
throngs will be your escort to your several homes in spirit spheres, 
which you will find your course of life on earth to have embel- 
lished accordingly for you. 

2307. "Work faithfully on: for, as you thus build, so will 
be vour home here — bnilded bv vour own earth career." 



384 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Psychic Writings of Thomas Paine. 



.ff 




%1 



THOMAS PAINE. 

Where liberty is not, there is my country." 



(1128-1129. 



2309. This spirit claims to be the Thomas Paine who stood 
as a "true blue," with Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and 
the whole army of patriots, for American independence, and 
whose burning words under the caption, "These are times that try 



RENDING THE VAIL. 385 

men's souls," inspired the army out of mutiny and on to victory. 
For no other crime than eft'orting to free the world from the 
hypnotic soul-bondage to sacerdotalism, the priesthood consigned 
him to endless hell ; but when Dr. Briggs opened the doors to let 
John Calvin's children out, it seems that Thomas Paine slipped 
out also, and is back here again, battling the ''festering priest- 
hood/' And he hopes, by these efforts, to lead men and women 
out of soul-bondage into the bright sunlight of spiritual freedom 
and independence of thought, and desires that the reader shall 
duly consider all the evidences herein of the identity of this per- 
sonality and genuineness of these alleged spiritual phenomena, 
and thus commence to prearrange for the great transition. 



Writing Xo. 1. (156.) 

The Christian World Not Spiritual, but Material. — Its Ideas of the 
Life Eternal Erroneous. 

2310. ''Friends, there is not an orthodox religious newspaper 
in the world that will publish the facts concerning Spiritualism. 

(a) "Yet, in the face of facts like these, certain Christians 
have told you that you must believe the Bible or be damned 
eternally. 

(b) ''The Christians are still worshiping a savage God, whom 
thev suppose to be the parent of a merciful and benevolent son, 
who died to save the world; but the lingering superstitions of 
the savage mind still haunt their imaginations, and they regard 
every manifestation from the spirit world to be of Satan ; but the 
conceit of their half -deluded minds is a striking comment upon 
the efficacy of their system to save themselves from the imag- 
inary wrath of an angry God. 

(c) ''They are never at peace long enough to have a genera- 
tion born free of the taint of blood and strife; and their religious 
tenets all reflect the mental bias of the people that have never 
conceived of any greater powers of peace and benevolence of men 
than that instilled by this angry Divine Creator. 

(d) "This abhorrent doctrine is still taught in your temples 
of learning, and ghastly symbols stand before your altars. 

(e) "Think such people should be conceited enough to claim 
the final destiny of the human race to be at the disposal of their 
(angry) God is not surprising, for they have attempted to con- 
quer and possess the whole earth as their personal possessions, 
and such minds are ever ambitious to be rulers in the world 
eternal. 

(f) "The Christian world is not spiritual, but material; and 
its ideas of the life eternal are nearly all erroneous. 

(Signed) "Thomas Paine." 



386 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Writing No. 2. (184.) 

Spiritualism the Only Religion Not Invented. — The Study of Theology 
the Study of Nothing. 

2311. "Friends, the only religion that has not been invented 
and that has in it every evidence of divine originality is Simon- 
pure Spiritualism. 

"It must have been the first and will probably be the last. 
"To give this belief the full opportunity of force, it is nec- 
essary that it acts alone in the capacity of Spiritualism. 

2312. "The study of theology, as it stands in Christian 
churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests 
on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it 
can demonstrate nothing and it admits of no conclusion. 

(a) "Not anything can be studied as a science, without your 
being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; 
and, as this is not the case with Christian theology, it is there- 
fore the study of nothing. 

(Signed) "Thomas Paine." 

Writing No. 3. (231.) 

If Preaching Must be Done, Let It be from Texts Known to be True. 

2313. "Friends, if you consider the nature of our condition 
here, you must see that there is no occasion for such a thing as 
revealed religion. 

2314. "What is it you want to know? Does not the creatiou, 
the universe you behold, preach to you the existence of an Al- 
mighty Power that governs and regulates the whole? Is not the 
evidence that your creation holds out to your senses infinitely 
stronger than anything you can read in that book that any im- 
postor can make and call the Word of God? 

2315. "As for morality, a knowledge of it exists in every 
man's conscience. 

2316. "The existence of an Almighty Power is sufficiently 
demonstrated to you, though you may not conceive, as it is impos- 
sible you should, the nature and manner of your existence. You 
cannot conceive how you came here yourselves, and yet you know 
for a fact that you are here. 

2317. "If man must preach, let him preach something that is 
edifving and from texts that are known to be true. 

(Signed) "Paine." 
Time, 10 seconds; 171 words; over 17 words per second. 

Writing No. 4. (303.) 

Demonstration — Not Theories, Myths, Superstitions, and Man- 
made Creeds. 

2318. "What myths and what superstitions have sprung 
from the religious world. How it has cursed the race! Its path- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 391 

2347. "When 1 was in my studio on earth, I was engaged 
in a warfare for human liberty — liberty whereby the children )l 
men, unawed by any kind of sacerdotalism, might be permitted 
to steer their own barks, whithersoever they might desire, out 
upon the great ocean of possibilities, with banners to the top- 
most inscribed : 'As to my own individuality, I, too, shall become 
"Lord of Lords and King of Kings."' 

2347. "But now I am in something better than my earthly 
studio. Standing in the light of higher schools than those of 
earth, I am here to say that this mythology that hangs like a dark 
cloud over the souls of men, shutting out the sweet sunshine of 
the spirit world, must come down, must be dissolved away. 

"Stand firm, my friends; be not swept away by the wild, 
rolling, muddy torrents that the coming down of those clouds 
must produce, and you will have your reward." 

2348. Question: "You must have been somewhat inspired 
to write your 'Common Sense'?" 

(a) Spirit: "My hand was guided to write that book. And 
I am Thomas Paine, that alleged infidel who cared not for the 
venomously barbed slanderousness of a mercenary priestcraft. 
Several noble souls of immortal glory helped me in my earthly 
studio, and now I propose to write something back to you." 

The reader should review the seance record of this wonderful 
materialization, paragraphs 246-249. 

Oration No. 5. (406.) 

Thomas Paine Passed to Higher Life in Peace, Notwithstanding 
His Calumniators. 

2349. "I wish to say to you, I am going on toward the prize 
of an all radiantly glorious unfoldment. 

2350. "When I was on earth, I was persecuted. Little chil- 
dren were taught to mock me upon the streets. There was no hell 
dark, dismal, sulphurous enough in which to punish me for my 
alleged heresies. Slanderous tongues made their slimy trail in 
the very air concerning me. 

2351. "But you can say to them that Thomas Paine passed 
to the higher life in peace, assured of the fact that no God of ven- 
geance or an endless hell awaited him; and that, some time, some- 
where, beyond all hells, in the sweet sunshine of loving benefi- 
cence, his most bitter enemies of earth and Thomas Paine would 
be loving brothers, although the people, some of them, thought me 
so strangely wicked, indeed, that to their minds no mode of mor- 
tal punishment had ever been invented but what was too good 
for me. 

2352. "But oh, the rapturous joy and ineffable delight that 
met me among the 'beautiful hills that rise on the evergreen 
shore'! I was met and hailed bv mv dear friends and comrades 



392 RENDING THE VAIL. 

gone before, as a brave soul that dared to live his honest convic- 
tions and abide the consequences. 

2353. "The happiness I have enjoyed in this delightful abode 
since coming here is worth more than all the millions of dollars — 
dollars, did I say? No, no; not dollars! The language of mor- 
tals is too poor to express the thrilling joys of an awakened soul 
in this beautiful 'summer land of song.' 

2354. "Now, friends, you can make yourselves as happy as I 
have been, if you suffer no fetters to make you slaves. I am now 
a free man, and shall continue on this joyous highway, drinking 
the richest essences of heaA T enly delight, ages and ages." 

2355. We cannot resist the temptation to here state that 
there is an eloquence attending the vocalizations of this spirit, 
Thomas Paine, that probably was seldom, if ever, surpassed by 
mortal man. 

Oration No. 6. (422.) 

No Personal God Outside of and Above Nature. 

2356. "Is there a God!"' in sarcastic exclamation; then :'n 
direct question: "Is there a God?" 

(a) "Yes, there is. I am a god, you are a. god, everything is 
God — that is, Good. 

(h) "But as to the general understanding of the existence of 
a personal God, outside of and above Nature, there is no such 
thing or being. 

(r) "In that sense, then, there is no God. 

2357. "My friends, the trouble with your world is this God 
idea. 

2358. "Yonr wars are all emanations of this God idea. 

2359. "Yonr governments are all run upon the common God 
idea. 

2360. "While, in founding your government, we very nearly 
eliminated the God idea, yet the idea of centralization was left 
in it; and, for the most part, it is administered under the God 
idea now. 

2361. "Not until the last vestige of the God idea, with its 
concomitant the priesthood, is educated out of your governments 
and the people's minds, will there be no more crying for bread 
in a land of plenty, answered only by giving a stone. 

2362. "Tyranny and oppression will cease only when the peo- 
ple learn that there is no supreme tvrant but ignorance. 

2363. "There is no God. my friends, who takes delight in 
making little babes for the glory of seeing them languish in an 
endless hell, just because their forefathers disobeyed the voice of 
this God. 

2264. "Listen to that God saying to these little innocents 
as their pitiful cries go out on eternity: 'Ah, you little wretches, 
crv and whine on forever! Good enough for you. Your grand- 



RENDING THE VAIL. 393 

father would not obey my voice; therefore you must wail on to 
all eternity.' 

2365. ki No, there is no God as taught by the common theo- 
logian. Every nation and people that lifts the sword in defence 
of its God thereby admits just what I tell you now: that its God 
is not omnipotent; and if not omnipotent, he is no God as that 
word is used to signify. 

2366. ''The God of theology, of modern Christendom, is so 
unable to take care of himself that the vast machinery of your 
governments is continually being evoked in his behalf. 

2307. "If some little child, like this boy here, tries to hear 
and learn of the realities of eternal life for himself, government 
must be evoked to shut off the avenues by which he may learn it. 

(a) "But time nor eternity will rob this young lad of the 
great facts he learns here. 

"While his comrades will, some time, have to unlearn all the 
notions of a false God promulgated beneath tall steeples at the 
expense of millions and millions of dollars and of millions more 
of worse than wasted lives, as the great book of Nature will 
some day reveal to man the theological ignorance of the world; 
and while, to one by one, the fact be revealed, in the life be- 
yond — this boy will have a soul rich in eternal truth, and in pity 
will lend a helping hand to the spiritual paupers of theological 
schools as such paupers land upon this side of life. Yea, this 
boy. whom they think their God will send to hell, will gladly meet 
them from upper glory with bread of life for their own hungry 
souls. 

2368. "Now, friends, let no one mistake or misrepresent me 
as touching the God idea, therefore let me here repeat what has 
heretofore been uttered and written in this arena and in your 
presence, to-wit: that our conception of God, as the governor of 
all nature, is universal law, within and not outside of nature. 
This law eternally inherent in nature, and by which all things are 
evolved and formed. This is our conception of God, who needs 
no salaried sacerdotal protection." 



Oration No. 7. (430) 

The Highest and Best Religion. — Hell and Heaven, ttie True as against 

the Theolofjical. — The True and Only Savior. — What 

and ^Yllere the Spirit World. 

2369. In answer to G. H. Walser's question 17, "What is the 
highest religion?" spirit Paiue said: 

(a) "The highest, best, and most purifying and ennobling 
religion is Spiritualism — pure and simple. 

(b) "It is the best on earth and the only one you '11 find in 
higher life. 



394 RENDING THE VAIL. 

"When your spirit eyes are opened on this inexpressibly de- 
lightful home amid the sweetest songs of myriads of happy celes- 
tials, you will soon be a Spiritualist — and you '11 stay one during 
all the ages, and only be ashamed that you acted so foolishly in 
not accepting the glorious gospel of this eternal truth while on 
earth. 

(c) "But Spiritualism is baffling the world of thought on 
your side to-day as never before, and one by one the chains of 
ignorance, superstition, prejudice, and cowardice are being broken 
asunder, and soon you '11 begin to learn that it is a primary school 
for the higher life; and when that lesson is once learned by a 
people, government will begin to be modified in the mutual in- 
terest of all the children in that primary school. 

id) "You are therefore serving the highest good you possibly 
can when using in wisdom your energies to assist the angel world 
to dispel dark clouds and mists from blinding the vision of mor- 
tals to that religion that must endure." 

2370. Spirit: "Now, Mr. Secretary, read your next question." 
Question 18: "Is there a hell and a heaven, as alleged oy 

common theologians to be taught by the Bible?" 

(a) Spirit: "If you mean a personal hell, I say, most em 
phatically, there is. You make it yourselves. It has already been 
said, or rather written, here by the good brother Reed: 

(b) " 'The hell is in your own soul.' 

(c) "The most of the hell you see in your fellow-being is 
smoke ascending from the hell within yourself. 

(d) "The less hell you have in yourself, the less of it you see 
in your neighbor. 

2371. "There is no escape from your personal hells but by 
restitution to offended law, and that restitution must be personal. 
Another cannot restore for you. Restitution is your only savior. 

2372. "God, or Good, may blot out from the book of remem- 
brance of God; but no God or son of God, except yourself, can 
blot out from the book of your own remembrance. 

2373. "When your eyes be opened on this side of life, you 
will see the book of your remembrance open to yourself and to 
the whole spirit world. 

2374. "By you, your misdirections will be read in sorrow and 
anguish; but by good angels, in pity and great compassion. 

2375. "If you mean a local hell of literal fire and brimstone 
set by some fanciful theologic God or established by any God, I 
say to you there is no such hell of eternal burning. 

2376. "No being, except a totally depraved one, could make 
such a hell, in which to eternally punish one of his own children 
for doing iust what, as a God, he must have known, even before 
he made the child, it would do. 

2377. "All the hell there ever was or ever will be must be 
discinlinary only, and cannot be unending in duration to any 
child of man." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 395 

Spirit: "Read the next question." 

2378. Question 19: "Where is the spirit world?" 

The spirit, in answer, rising to an emphatic posture and with 
outstretched hands, exclaimed in most emphatic tones: 

2379. "Everywhere. There is no space where the spirit world 
is not." 

2379. (Question 20.) "The degrees are infinite, but for con- 
venience we may generalize into six degrees of the primary con- 
dition beyond the earth condition. 

"Your natural home in spirit life on first entry there is in 
such of these degrees as you may be fitted by your earthly 
evolution. 

(Question 21.) "If your earth life has but poorly developed 
you, your first home in spirit life will be in lowest degree or first 
sphere. 

2380. "From this your evolution goes on; and, one by one, 
you ascend, as climbing a ladder, to the highest sphere. 

(a) "Very few persons are ever prepared in earth life for the 
sixth sphere or degree of unfoldment. 

2381. "Beyond all this, another condition, the celestial, 
higher, or ethereal sphere — the heavenly paradise into which, 
from the highest attainments of the sixth sphere, the etherealized 
spirit passes on to higher, grander, more glorious beatitudes." 

2382. Question: "The greatest spiritual sin?" 
(a) Spirit : "Yourself." 

2383. Question : "Is the spirit subject to disease and decay?" 
{a) Spirit: "Just this much: they feel a more or less sym- 
pathetic attachment to their friends, and, when in their sphere, 
or rather aura, suffer in sympathy as they." 

Oration No. 8. (462.) 

One Josie, a Medium, ivas Manufactured into the Theological Jesus. 

2384. "And still they tell you there is a hell as generally 
preached from the pulpit. 

(a) "I want to say to you that the only hell to you is made 
by yourself. When you are lonely and despondent, you are so, 
sometimes, because you have driven the good angels away. Be 
assured that you have hosts of loving friends on the spirit side 
of life who would at all times be glad to help you in hours of 
darkness. 

2385. "Sorrowing mothers have, bending over them, the sup- 
posed lost ones, doing all they can for the stricken mother, whose 
theology keeps the gates to the inner life closed, so the dear child, 
that otherwise could and would give comfort to the mourning 
parent, is prevented by reason of false teaching: and the spirit, 
while near the mother, feels also aggrieved and sorrowful; but, 
when away in the ethereal, this sorrow and sadness is not experi- 



396 RENDING THE VAIL. 

enced by the spirit, for the law of sympathy, that in the one 
case takes on the mother's conditions, in the other takes on the 
serene joy and gladness of the upper and indescribably beautiful 
surroundings and sweet music of the glorified ones there. 

(a) "I am doing all I can to remove from earth the barriers 
set up, by the priesthood, to the sweet 'communion of the saints.' 

(b) "I have been called, and am even now called, a traitor, 
which greatly grieves me when I sense the earthly sphere. 

(c) "Those who made and make such charges against Thomas 
Paine will one day feel their ingratitude. 

2.380. "I did the best I could with the light I had, when on 
earth. I made mistakes — even animals make mistakes. The grass, 
the flowers, the trees sometimes live and act erroneously; but 
yet, they do the best they can. 

2387. "When life began to manifest in the atomie, as the 
good brothers Denton, Reed, and Faraday have said, it worked 
up to protoplasm state, and thence slowly, by degrees, to lowest, 
thence on to highest types of man. 

2388. "The manifestations of lowest types of man were, to 
them, the highest possible attainments of the race; and here 
their God idea fixed a finality — and they were averse to having 
any intimations of anything beyond — but, it was a mistake. 

2389. "The next advance was thought, by itself, to be the 
'Ultima Thule'; but it, too, was mistaken. 

2390. "To-day, however, it begins to appear that every 
thought of an 'Ultima Thiile' of theology, of revelation, of the 
unfoldment of the rational, thinking, conscious ego, is a mistake 
— and that there is no 'Ultima Thule.' 

(a) "So I made mistakes — committed errors. I advanced 
what I thought right as to education, but I was mistaken about 
that. 

2391. "Here we have schools the same as you on earth; and 
we have to learn the same way that you learn. 

(a) "We take our lessons step by step as you do. We grad- 
uate in one school preparatory to another, and another, and an- 
other — we are always on the go. 

(b) "We have musical schools, medical schools (not to learn 
how to decently slaughter people). 

(c) "Our diplomas are not 'for no more beyond,' but prepar- 
atory to an infinite beyond. 

2392. "If you believe in such a man as Jesus as per the 
record of such an one, you must believe in some other mode of 
healing than what is called materia medica. 

(a) "His method is called marvelous because it is beyond 
the limit set up by your schools; but in a little while your schools 
will begin to recognize that it was not direct intervention of 
some God, but only by natural law, with which God had the same 
but no more to do than he had with 'running lightning down 
Newton's kite-strings.' 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 389 

'Faith no longer performs the miracles of the past. In 
it of the nineteenth century prayers were important, 
did not restore the dead to life. 

The Only Infallible Bible. 

2335. "The creation and its spirit and the human spirit 'is 
the Bible and the only infallible book. It rises into the knowl- 
edge of love, justice, and philosophy. There is not a single thing 
on your earth or world but invites you to read a divine revelation. 

(a) "If you study a silken worm, you will get swept in the 
cycles of life. You commence with that silken worm and you 
stud}' the laws of evolutionary growth ; and, before you are aware 
of it. you are contemplating the everlasting genius of Nature. 

2336. "Some one says: 'I do not see but your religion is 
simply science.' Certainly; science, philosophy, and spirituality. 
It points to every scientific exploration, every scientific discovery, 
everything in the world, as a divine law. 

(Signed) "Paine." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Vocalizations of Thomas Paine. 

2338. The reader should revert to the portrait at paragraph 
2308, and review paragraphs 1128 and 1129, and in his mind see 
that form stand before him, and hear the utterance by that form 
in finished oratory of the wonderful statements as he reads them, 
in order to fully realize himself as pondering over the utterances 
of one from beyond the tomb. 

2339. But the reader may ask: "How were these orations 
committed to paper?" 

If the reader would ask any person who attended these se- 
ances, he would be told that the secretary took notes, more or less 
full, of the orations as being made, and was then able to repro- 
duce the words of the spirit on paper and read them to the next 
meeting of the circle; and that such report the circle generally 
found to be exactly as the spirit had uttered, so far as the circle 
could determine. 

In this way, the wonderful Avords were preserved, and are 
finallv before the reader in printed form, very nearly as the spir- 
its in full-form, visible materialization uttered them, from time 
to time, at these seances, as set forth in this book. 



390 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Oration No. 1. (195.) 

The So-called Church a Hindrance to Progress. 

2340. "When I was on earth, it was a great part of my work 
to do battle on the festering priesthood. 

2341. "Since in the higher life, I have seen that the so-called 
Church is one of the greatest hindrances to progre. and a bar- 
rier to post-mortem felicity. 

2342. "I am determined to and will do all I can to tear down 
and remove from the highway of unfoldment such blockades to 
human evolution." 

Oration No. 2. (213.) 

This Spirit Finds No Such Person as the Theological Orthodox God. 

2343. "I want to say again, that I find that most of my ef- 
forts in the mortal to uproot superstition were right, and I am 
now determined to do all I can to down those nefarious institu- 
tions whose ultimate effect is degradation aud blasting of future 
fruition of so many thousands — yea, millions of earth's innocent, 
trusting, priest-ridden people. 

2344. "There is no evidence on earth or in spirit life that 
there ever did exist a man such as they say is God." 

Oration No. 3. (220.) 

"J Am He Who Stood as a 'True Blue' for My Country and for 

Your Country" 

2345. "Good-evening, friends. I expect you to know who I 
am before I go. 

{a) "I am he who stood as a 'true blue' for my country and 
for your country, putting all my energies into the work of build- 
ing an asylum of liberty for the soul-environed of all lands, of all 
people yet to be. 

(c) "I did do battle as a true soldier for the cause of human 
progress. 

(d) "Brave soldiers are needed now to plant the standard far- 
ther up the hill and to prevent its trailing. 

(e) "I come to tell you of our thankfulness to you for your 
regards to us. 

(f) "Go on, and you will find your great reward." 

Oration No. 4. (246-249.) 

An Exhortation for Disciples of This Truth to Stand Firmly Together 

in the Cause. 

2346. "I suppose you think I am still with you, and so I am, 
but farther on in the scale of being. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 397 

2393. Question: "Mr. Paine, you say that Jesus as taught 
to-day is a theological myth. How, then, shall we regard the 
pictures we receive and the alleged appearances we have of him?" 

(a) Paine: "That is all right. There was a man whose 
true name was Josie, who had medium powers not near so good 
as our medium here; but our medium is no more Jesus — that is, 
'a savior' — than any other man or boy. He is no God; he is only 
Will Aber. No more God for having the gift of mediumship than 
some other person is God on account of his gift of music. 

(a) "There is no proof, either on earth or in spirit life, that 
the Bible personality called Jesus Christ, as preached to-day. 
ever existed. 

2394. Question : "Was that man Josie baptized in the river 
Jordan?-' 

(a) "Paine: "I don't know whether he was baptized in the 
river Jordan or in the St. Lawrence, but he was baptized: and, 
at the time, out of ridicule, was called Jesus; though his real name 
was Josie. He had the gifts of a common medium only, and 
never the alleged properties of a savior. 

(b) "If you were passing along and were to meet a crowd 
of roughs w r ho would plunge you into a mud-hole ana mockingly 
call you Ingersoll, and say, 'How are you, Bob?' it would not 
make you the great Ingersoll; you would still be Mr. Nixon. 

id "Well, that is just the way that Josie got to be a savior 
and finally the 'Lord God of the universe.' I do not ask you to 
believe this. Do as you like about that. I asked for proof of the 
theological allegations, and was satisfied with nothing else. No 
such nroof was ever given me on earth, and since coming here 
I have found enough to convince me of what I have told you of 
the existence of one Josie." 

2395. Question: "Were vou assisted in your work on 
earth?" 

(a) Paine: "I was inspired. Some good angel stooped to 
do me honor in giving some direction to my pen and trend of 
thought." 

Oration No. 9. (466.) 

Thomas Paine is Bad- Here to Tell to the World What lie Knows Now. 

"Good-evening, friends. I am glad to meet you here in this 
way. 

2396. "Our glorious work is moving on, and I am truly glad 
that it is progressing with such rapid strides throughout the 
world. No discovery in the domain of science ever yet made 
greater progress among the people in a single half-century as the 
great scientific fact of a demonstrable future for man has since 
its enunciation, less than fifty years ago, 

(a) "Yet strange indeed is it that so great a boon to the 
race must fight its way evervwhere. 

- —26 



398 RENDING TEE TAIL. 

(b) "Fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, brothers, 
and sisters, everywhere mourning, sorrowing, weeping, wailing, 
as they look into the desolate grave or behold the empty chair! 
Will not hear the good news, will not look as the angels draw 
the vail aside. 

(c) "And when the white-robed kindred 'over there' would 
draw near, would sing again the old home refrain, they are driven 
away; the gentle caressing of an angel mother is denounced as 
the scheming of some diabolical fiend. 

(d) "Oh, friends ! When I look upon the floods of tears that 
might be dried away, when I behold the millions of sorrowing 
hearts that might be comforted, but for the intervention of a 
designing priesthood who live fat upon the sorrowings of desolate 
hearts, my soul sickens and determines me to go on with the war- 
fare of breaking the fetters that bind so many millions of precious 
souls to a mercenary sacerdotalism founded on the fables of an 
imaginary God. 

2397. "This God, through the priesthood as his medium, has 
in all ages fought with fire and sword, shot and shell, gibbet and 
guillotine, prison and proscription, slang and slander, the advo- 
cates of the advent into your earth among the children of men of 
anything calculated to lessen the iron grip that the priest has 
had upon men and women. 

(a) "They would murder a Bruno for daring to think for 
himself. 

(b) "They would lead upon the scaffold an innocent Quaker 
woman because it was reported that an angry God had said: 
'Suffer not a witch to live.' 

(c) "In the infancy of astronomy its advocates must recant 
or burn at the stake because this imaginary leader of the priest- 
hood had been reported as saying something about the four cor- 
ners of the earth. 

(d) "The great science of phrenology was tabooed because 
it was at variance with the supposed teaching of their supposed 
God; and geology, too, must be scoffed because it teaches that, 
instead of the six days of creation, millions of ages were 
consumed. 

2398. "Thus, step by step, science has shown that the theo- 
logical ideas of God are false, and that what the theologians have 
heretofore taught to be the true God have not been and are not 
God at all, but merely false or ignorant conceptions of the true 
God. 

(a) "Oh, if my orthodox friends were here to-night, I would 
scorch them to the very quick; only desiring, however, to have 
them exchange their remaining ignorance for eternal truth. 

(b) "I do not come back here for nothing, nor to advocate 
theories; but to tell vou what I know." 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 399 

Oration No. 10. (468.) 

No Mutes in Spirit Life. — Reincarnation. — Christian Science. — 
Colonel Ingersoll. 

"I am glad to again appear before you in this way." 

2399. Question: "Do mutes obtain speech after transition? 
If so, why do they not talk to us in our tongue instead of 
pantomime ?" 

(a) Spirit: " Yes, they talk here the same as the rest of us; 
but if they come to you in any other than their earthly mode, you 
do not recognize them; besides, when coming into your aura, they 
take on their old earthly habits more or less, anyway. 

(b) "If I should appear to you as I sat in my studio writing 
my book, you would not recognize me. I must come as near as 
possible in my everyday life, as understood by you, that you may 
recognize me. 

(c) "Now I would thank you for a further subject. Do not 
be long about it, as I cannot stay. Well, inasmuch as you do not 
think of a suitable theme, I believe I would prefer 'Reincarnation.' 

2400. "Let me say to you that reincarnation as Buddha 
taught is a myth, is not right. But when you pass to the higher 
or highest spheres, and come back in a temporarily reconstructed 
body, as you behold me now, that is a reincarnation that is true, 
and is the only reincarnation of which I have been enabled to 
learn anything on this side of life. 

2401. "The idea that you are the individualized entity that 
once was the soul of the lion, the dog, the cat, and that after 
awhile you will leave your position in the higher life and again 
on earth take up your abode as the soul of the serpent, the toad, 
or the elephant, is only theory with theorizers, but is not with me. 

(a) "Why not stay in the lion, in the first place, and not be 
compelled, after a life of conscious bliss and high intellectuality 
among the good angels, to go back to prison in some lion? 

(b) "On earth I meditated much on that subject, and, from 
all that I could learn in regard thereto, was as much opposed to 
this myth as to Bible myths. 

(c) "When anyone tells you that he distinctly remembers 
having lived in a certain lion, and that his wife was once a lioness, 
you can set that down as an unwarrantable stretch of the 
imagination. 

2402. "No, friends, that is not true. You may have some of 
the traits of the lion, the wildcat, the deadly cobra, in yourself, 
as I have told you; but you do not again crawl even into your 
old bodies after once they are completely lain aside, much less 
back into the lower animals. After your conscious entity is once 
evolved from the rocks, it never goes back to the rocks to begin 
a reincarnation of itself. Its course is not in a circle, but in a 
straight line. 



400 RENDING THE VAIL. 

"Another question now comes to ine as among the myths: 
'Christian Science.' 

2403. "They say that is close to Spiritualism. In one sense 
that may be; that is, in the sense that their alleged cures are by 
the spirits in their presence. 

(a) "The so-called Christian Scientists do not cure from their 
own brains. Their cures are from the spirit side. 'We come down 
the shining highway and lead on this movement.' They wish to 
arrogate to themselves all the glory, for which we care nothing, 
so the suffering be relieved. 

(&) "There is no science in it or about it, except that when 
we find an instrument that we can use for good, we do so. 

(c) "But some people are afraid of their shadows; and, in- 
stead of calling themselves mediums for the use of the angel 
world, they proclaim a scientific discovery and name it Christian 
Science. But the Christian Science is just as offensive to the 
nostrils of the priesthood and Mother Grundy, as would be the 
simple truth : 

id) "Intervention of spirits. 

(e) "If I were in an orthodox crowd, I would talk just the 
same. 

(/) "I want to say something about that grand, good man 
on your side of life who is following in my footsteps. 

2404. "Mr. Ingersoll, as noble as any soul of your earth, is 
doing more good for the world than all the priesthood of entire 
Christendom. He is as much of a Spiritualist as I am, but he has 
his work to do, in his own way, and right gallantly he is doing 
it. He went the other evening to see a medium in Boston. I saw 
him there. I w r as so glad to see my good brother engaging and 
preparing for the good work. He did not see me as he could if 
he were here. We can often see vou when vou do not see us. 

2405. "Oh, what a terrible myth is that orthodox hell ! This 
myth does such sad havoc as to be itself almost a real hell, 
working as great disasters, almost, as is alleged of the mytholog- 
ical Satanic Majesty. 

(a) "How hard for the yearning mother to be told that her 
darling child is in hell torments eternally, just because he failed 
to understand that mythical plan of salvation! 

(b) "Why any wife, or mother, or child, should be told in the 
sad hour of bereavement that the loved one gone over is languish- 
ing in eternal hell-fire prepared by an all loving and merciful God 
for all those who do not accept the mythical way such God has 
prepared for escape from the visitation of divine wrath, I don't 
know." 



RES Dl\a THE TAIL. 401 

Oration No. 11. (473.) 

Error Dies Hard. — Good and Evil of Bible to the World Com- 
pared. — Materialization. 

2406. "On our side of life, we take great interest in the pro- 
mulgation of such as we see to be of advantage to you mortals. 
More interest, in fact, we take than you realize. But we differ as 
you do. It seems to me that any person of ordinary brains would 
investigate this beautiful philosophy. But so many are just beat 
ing along, caring for nothing but something to eat and wear. So 
many more are so crowded to the wall for a mere pittance; and, 
as society is now organized, with a very large portion of your 
people the whole aim and highest purpose in life is to beat some 
one. If men knew we were here, they would do better. 

"What man or woman, in the face of a knowledge of the fact 
that his dear departed are hovering around him and know his 
every act, but what would be likely to stop and think before doing 
any rash act? 

kk This knowledge of spirit communion is bound to favorably 
modify human action, passions, and desires. 

2407. "'On earth, when I was working purely to unshackle 
the souls of the people and break them away from that theology 
that yet keeps the world in ignorance, doubt, and gloom, I was 
ridiculed. And you are and will be ridiculed for endeavoring to 
lift the vail and let in the light. 

(a) "AYhenever persons do so ridicule, it shows you are 
troubling them. 

2408. "Error dies hard — hissing serpent-tongued maledic- 
tions on the devoted heads of those who would destroy error to 
make way for truth. 

(a) "It seems that this phase of light is not new, but you 
are getting it first-hand. 

(b) "If you had an instrument to fully note my speeches, I 
would talk to the world now as never even while in the mortal. 

2409. "Now that Bible. You read novels, you read fiction, 
you read fable. Reflect back to your Bible and search out all the 
good it contains, and you will find how very small space would 
contain it all. One hundred pages would more than contain all 
the real good contained in the Bible. Ten thousand pages would 
not contain all the bad and fully portray its degrading results to 
the world. The meanness, the vileness. the lasciviousness in that 
book would sweep anyone over Niagara Falls into a whirlpool 
and oblivion below, who is not by nature proof against being led 
astray by such licentious reading. 

2410. "Little Nellie says she never was born. When she so 
states, she means that thp spirituality always existed, had no be- 
ginning — onlv transmutation. 

2411. "None of us was ever born in the sense that birth is 
the beainniim" of existence. 



402 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2412. "I thought it my duty to give you all the light I could, 
but here I arn, frail, frail indeed, in connection with this frail 
body, which is made up of particles we get from the air, the cir- 
cle, and the medium. These particles held together by a spirit 
magnetic force which we are enabled to use temporarily under 
strictly chemical conditions, and these conditions make a channel 
for conveyance of thought to you that must partake of the nature 
of the circle, the medium, and present atmospheric and chemical 
surroundings. 

2413. "This body of mine here is so easily destroyed that any 
adverse chemical wave or loss of chemical cohesion destroys it. 

2414. "It is as strange to me as it is to you that I can stand 
here and talk at all. I do not understand it. It is a high grade 
of chemical specialists here in spirit life that do sufficiently under- 
stand it to make it possible. By the help of their knowledge, 
wisdom, and skill, I am enabled to speak to you through my own 
temporary body, which I can only hold until the vitality of the 
magnetism used for the purpose is exhausted. 

2415. "It is an easy matter to use the body of a mortal by the 
law of obsession, but the most difficult and highest phase of 
spirit manifestations is that produced by means of a spirit arti- 
ficial body, commonly called spirit materialization.'"' 

Oration No. 12. (474J.) 

Baron von Humboldt. — Such Rich Souls Dispense of Their Soul Wealth 

to the Famishing. 

2416. "The Doctor has not written so scientifically as usual; 
but perhaps it is as well to have something for the common 
understanding as any way. 

2417. "In looking around, I see your country is going down, 
down toward bankruptcy; and do you know that, without some 
wise statesmanship, it will soon be there? You are on the verge 
of a financial crisis; if not by wisdom averted, it will shake your 
nation as it has never yet been shaken since its founding. 

2418. "We, as spirits, can modify the calamity, but influ- 
ences are now at work that will cause the world to tremble on its 
Titanic foundations. 

2419.. "You speak of smart men. Such you have had to 
guide your ship of state, but they are gone. Instead of smart 
men. you now have selfish men, working not for you, but for 
themselves, for the few rich, to the enslavement of the many. 

2420. "Your smartest men that are gone come not back ex- 
cept in spirit. 

2421. "Whenever you lose one of them to earth life, it is 
better for you, because they can do more good for the world from 
the spirit side than they could from the mortal side. 

2422. "Than Baron von Humboldt your earth never pro- 
duced a grander soul. He gathered from all sources, from all the 



RENDING THE VAIL. 403 

ages. He has his great garnerings with him here in eternal life, 
of which he can now and for the coming ages dispense to the 
need}', to the hungering, and thereby feed the famishing; and the 
very act of so giving, instead of depleting, increases the treasures 
of his own garners. 

2423. "Other great minds who have gathered on earth are 
continually ascending to spirit life glittering all over with their 
accumulated jewels, which on earth were not utilized; but now, 
for the benefit of themselves and the soul-hungry sentient beings 
of earth and sky — and their stores eternally increasing. 

2424. '"These are they who were not using their entire earth 
lives trying to make fortunes out of somebody else. 

2425. "These are they who in reality make your inventions 
of to-day, as some time you will know. But they make them for 
the benefit of man, not for the sole benefit of financial slave- 
drivers, backed up by hireling legislative, judicial, and adminis 
trative departments. 

2426. "Many of these men to whom are given many of these 
great inventions at once conclude themselves the 'Great I Am,' 
and claim them for themselves and capital gobbles them; and, 
instead of a blessing, the capital slave-driver, protected by his 
government in so doing, forges these designed blessings into more 
galling fetters to manacle the poor, toiling producer. 

2427. "Oh, if I could call around me here a thousand or two 
thousand of these slave-masters, I would tell them of the wrongs 
and outrages they are perpetrating upon the race, upon unborn 
generations. But all these nabobs will have their reward, and 
that much less than even -a 'mess of pottage.' 

2428. "Oh, friends, how it grieves me and goocr angels to see 
and know T that the millions of innocent babes are ushered into 
your world to become toiling slaves to a false social system, all 
growing out of a false religion! 

2429. "See those innocents now, so happy on mother's 
bosom! Little do those sweet babes know why mother alternately 
weeps and smiles. Little do they know 7 the slings and barbed 
arrows awaiting them along life's thorny pathway. Little do they 
know that they have to spend a long life on earth toiling to sup- 
port a priesthood and financial aristocracy, and die at last and 
go to an endless hell prepared for the devil and his angels, just 
because they are too poor to have a first-class funeral! Herod 
yet slays the innocents! Little do the non-producing idle min- 
istry know which way the sword of Dives is cutting, or they 
would not continually, everywhere make themselves both princi- 
pal and particeps criminis in all this foul wrong to the children 
of men. 

2430. "Little do they know that one day they, from the home 
of Dives, will see the poor Lazarus, whom they consign to hell, 
afar off in the Paradise (Abraham's bosom), ready on call, with 
palms to cool the brow and a cup of water for the parching tongue. 



404 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2431. "I can go through jour convents now, your so-called 
benevolent institutions. I can look with pitying meditation into 
the hearts of homeless women! What terrible brutal sensuality 
exercised by man over woman in all these and everywhere! See 
that poor woman yonder, working day by day at starvation wages 
to make a meager support for her lone self and sweet little inno- 
cent babe! But what of the wretch who brought her so? What 
will become of him? Society takes him to its bosom. The Church 
takes him to her folds. He is allowed to go back into the cloister. 
Society can't go on without him because he is rich. The Church 
must hush the scandal for his sake, because he liberally patron- 
izes the contribution-box. 

2432. "But the poor unfortunate woman! The Church, so- 
ciety, all pass her by on the other side. She sees flowers strewn 
by other fair hands in the path over which that wretch of a man 
is treading as he too does pass her by with a sneer! 

2433. "The mists will clear away some time. Bye and bye 
the angels will see justice done. Restitution must be made. 
Lonely retribution, as the wrongdoer, in the face of all the angel 
world, and in their pity too, will be compelled to read from the 
tablets of his own memory the record of all his earthly doings, 
will be his doom. 

2434. u The intervention of no savior will ever be able to blot 
from the book of one's own remembrance. This is hell from which 
there is no escape but to pass through it, making restitution as 
you go; and no plan of salvation other than complete restitution 
will ever be efficacious in working you out of that hell. 

2435. "Could men and women know of the false foundation 
of present socialism on earth, and of the near approach of the 
gardens of immortality, they would no longer work their lives 
awav for mere clothing, bread, and butter; but would have a con 
dition of things that would enable them to better utilize their 
time for the requirements of both earth and spirit life. 

2436. "And to this end the angel world is trying to roll 
back the dark clouds of ignorance arid selfishness that so darken 
the way for you mortals." 

Oration No. 13. (495.) 

Schools Ought to Embrace Something More Than Financial "Grah- 

ologij." — Some Geography of the PupiVs Future Country 

Should he Taught. 

2437. "Your schools should not be solely for tne purpose of 
learning schemes by which to hoard the almighty dollars. You 
want schools to make men and women — not to make dollars. 

2438. "Y^ou study compound interest, and algebra, and trig- 
onometrv, and such things. I knew about them once. What good 
did all that do me? Very little, I assure you. What is your 
common-school education for? To prepare you to become useful 



RENDING THE VAIL. 405 

and ornamental citizens of the earth. And just as you have 
learned to use your education in a way to cheat the poor produc- 
ers out of their labor, you have become citizens of another 
country. 

2439. "A country that your schools will not allow you to 
know anything about. Your citizenship of that country in dura- 
tion is as a thousand years compared to a single second of your 
lives on earth. 

2440. "Not one single true purpose of real existence is al- 
lowed to be taught in your schools. 

(a) "A false modesty even prevents the teaching of true 
Avonmnhood. 

(b) "You teach your children from first to last to become 
liars. On some peculiar morning when a second or third voice is 
added to the family circle, you call the other little fellows and 
say: 'Oh, Johnny, look here! What a pretty little sister the 
doctor brought you last night!' or, worse yet: 'Oh, see here! How 
good God is to bring us another little brother !' Why, if you tell 
anything, don't you tell the children the truth? They find out, 
sooner or later, that you lied about it. 

2441. "There is nothing in nature or Nature's laws that is 
sin, and it is only sin to teach falsehood instead of the truth in 
regard to any department of nature. So much false teaching, so 
much false modesty, so much false theology. 

(a) "I have said before that I have visited your institutions 
and there learned much as to the wrongful management of affairs. 

(b) "I say again, your country is in a terrible situation. 

2442. "And now Theosophy strikes it. A condemnable doc- 
trinal arrogance that would be a curse to any people! Friends, 
little do you know the strategy on this side of life. Little do you 
know the ways and means used in working out those stratagems. 
Knowing the wily snares set to capture your little band and 
spoil our work here, we thought best to hold the medium in safe 
hands and not open the doors of the physical manifestations in 
your dark circle. 

2443. "I am always waiting at your circles, and your me- 
dium is alwavs guarded bv an efficient band of noble souls. " 



Oration Xo. 14. (502. 

Woman and Her Mission. — Glories of Spiritualism Pile up Like 

C amnions Clouds. 

2444. "Thomas Paine stood a brilliant make-up in the arena. 
saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. T am glad to see this little band 
now. 

(b) "Who comes oftener than T? T do not desire to occupy 
the whole time here, but the good angels over here tell me to go 



406 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

ahead — there will be time for them bye and bye. So, if you will 
give me a subject, I will try to speak to it. 

(c) Secretary: ''It seems, Brother Paine, that the subjects 
you have chosen heretofore have been very satisfactory, so I would 
as soon leave it to your own choice. 

(d) Spirit: "That, you see, would not answer our purpose 
so well; therefore I would rather you would give me a subject/' 

2445. Mrs. House then announced: "Woman and Her 
Mission." 

(a) Paine: "That is a very appropriate subject indeed, my 
good sister. 

(&) "Woman has a greater mission than man has. She was 
put upon the earth for man — not in the sensual sense, but for 
man's good. 

(c) "Remove man from the society of woman, and not long 
before man would be retrograding. It is hard to surmise what 
would become of man if not for woman. Her influence keeps man 
in place — keeps him from brutality, bestiality, and animalisms. 

(d) "Then she rears the family. She directs the child. Right 
or wrong, she molds a great deal of the destiny of the child. 
She shapes up the whole destiny of the race. She has to lift her 
companion to higher planes. She has to lift her own sex. How 
many women have charity for their own sex? She often would 
make still lower the unfortunate of her sex. 

(e) "But man lowers them to the lowest hells! 

2446. "It is the destiny of woman to learn to elevate, to 
refine her own sex. It is hers yet to learn to live the refined life 
her nature calls for. 

2447. "Man would make her a slave and keep her as a mere 
serf, while he would act the nabob. He is coarser in his nature 
for the coarser affairs of life. 

2448. "She is finer in her nature for the finer duties and 
cares of life, and to refine and prepare for a grander destiny than 
that of earth. Such is woman's destiny. 

"Any other question?" 

2449. Mr. House : "How is the form you use held together? " 
(a) Spirit: "As has been frequently said, this temporary 

machine is composed of elements from the atmosphere, the circle, 
and the medium. You are all chemical yourselves, your bodies 
being held bv chemical action— gathered by chemical process. 
When the chemical conditions are broken, even your own bodies 
are dissolved — so of these. 

(6) "They are held for a time by the will of the chemist, as 
the good Brother Denton has already told you; but when the 
chemical action is exhausted, the will no longer holds it, but the 
form must dissolve. You see that is so all round you in nature. 

"Any other Question?" 

2450. Mr. House: "How did life originate?" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 407 

(a) Spirit: "From spirit, atom, molecule, protoplasm. 
Here is where it is demonstrated. 

(b) "Life always existed; and, in a general sense, nevei orig- 
inated, because it always was. 

(c) "But individualized personality of life began and begins 
in the manner as we have often told you from this arena. 

2451. "The soul of man is a separate organ — the individual- 
ized spirit. When the body is dead, the soul or spirit takes, as 
it were, wings and escapes the old tenement. Your soul is the 
life individualized. Here is the seat of thought. 

2452. "Science has never yet answered to its own satisfac- 
tion the question: If there be no permanent, indestructible, en- 
during organ, how is thought originated? 

(a) "The power of thought gets away with the scientist when 
his field of investigation gets there. What is it that thinks, my 
good scientist, if there be no soul for that purpose? 

(b) "The best that the wisest of them have yet done as sci- 
entists, and the best they ever will do as scientists on the material 
plane, is to say: 'I don't know.' 

2453. "And that is the condition that Spiritualism found 
the whole earth — 'I don't know.' Even those pretending to teach 
immortality were saying in their sermons: 'I don't know.' 

2454. "But the man or the woman who longer remains an 
ignoramus does so because he does not want to know. They are 
ignorant because they want to be ignorant. Any person of com- 
mon sound brains can find out in this age, if he only will: for the 
windows of heaven are open to the human race, and a light held 
there by beautiful friends on the other side; not under a bushel. 
nor in a corner, but a light in the window for all. 

(a) "I was not a poet, but since coming to this beautiful 
country I believe I could soon learn the poetic mood. 

(b) "Tell that man at Liberal that there is a special 'light 
in the window' for him. Hunt me out a subject and I will give 
you an address, for you to deliver to this camp-meeting, that will 
raise the natives. 

2455. "Spiritualism is the only unfathomable religion. You 
begin to examine it, and you see just ahead a mighty prominence; 
and you think, when you will have climbed that prominence, yon 
can then discern the all of Spiritualism; but when you reach the 
summit of that prominence, you see across untraversed plains to 
higher prominences beyond; and a way in the dim distance moun- 
tains resting over against the background of vision's limits mount- 
ing high toward the eternal heavens. All these are yet to ascend, 
the vast plains between to cross — and these plains all crossed 
and the mountains ascended, but reveal grander white-capped 
mountains away, away, far away. The bottom you never find, the 
last heights are infinitely ahead! 

245fi. "I have been here many years, and as T look forward 
Spiritualism keeps piling up before me like vast fields of cumulons 



408 RENDING THE VAIL. 

clouds. New beauty, new grandeur, new delights, in the tar-away 
distance, always inviting onward. 

2457. "In your earthly travels you climb the Appalachians 
and look away across the mighty valley to the still more mighty 
Cordilleras, where, you are often told, are vast treasure-fields of 
glittering gold. 

2458. "You resolve at last, with a brave heart: the sooner 
you would be there the sooner you must start. 

2459. "That 's the way it is over here. Nothing uplifts man 
or woman like pure Spiritualism, yet many try to crush it out. 

2460. "They have boiled shirts, and, standing in shining- 
shoes, denounce this child of the skies as of the lowest hells, 
while thev of the church and pulpit are boasting of their love 
of God. 

2461. "Go, search the history of the world, and you will 
learn that it is this love of God in the heart that has let the 
god of war loose in almost all ages, and strewn the earth almost 
white with the bones of heretics slaughtered in the name of this 
great God they so much adore. 

2462. "Spiritualism is very different indeed. It teaches the 
brotherhood of man, the common destiny of all. 

2463. "The love of the God that queries, 'Am I my brother's 
keeper?' sends war, desolation, human butchery, robbery, and 
spoliation; each one in succession saying to his unfortunate 
brother: 'You should have had better luck.' 

2464. "While those who love their fellow-men instead of 
some imaginary God of favoritism bend in pity giving needed 
alms moistened with tears of man's love for his fellow-man, while 
the good angels, looking on through the gates of the morning, 
renew the old, old song, so seldom heard for so many years : 'Peace 
on earth, good- will to man!' " 

Oration No. 15. (503.) 

The Spheres. — Passing through Them. — Theosophy. 

Spirit Thomas Paine at this seance, standing in the arena, 
asked for a subject, and "Passing through the Spheres'' was 
announced. 

2465. Spirit: "That is a very beautiful subject. I had just 
chosen one for myself, but will try to speak to yours. 

(a) "Dear friends, you have one sphere. We have several. 
We go from sphere to sphere as easy as you go down stairs. We 
stay but a short time in any sphere except that of our own abode. 

(b) "It seems to me now that I would rather stay where I 
am than take up my abode in the higher spheres, for the reason 
that from the spirit spheres immediately surrounding the earth 
we can so easily return to our friends there. And we have long- 
ings for their welfare and advancement. 



JIEXDIXG THE VAIL. 409 

(e) "Our attachments are uot yet entirely severed, beside our 
feeling of philanthropy. 

(cl) "When we pass to the more ethereal planes beyond, we 
no longer feel desirous of the earthly inhabitants, and very sel- 
dom pass back through what you call the lower spheres; it is 
so much more glorious beyond, and our desires grow more for 
perpetual reveling in that higher glory. 

(e) "So when we once leave the earth spheres to stay, as our 
home, we do not desire to return. 

2466; "There are many, many spheres, all inhabited by many 
millions of pure and happy spirits, among whom there is not one 
jot or tittle of selfishness, but one enjoys the serene happiness of 
the other as much as of his own. In fact, the happiness of each 
is because of the happiness of every other. 

(a) "It cannot be portrayed to mortal understanding con- 
cerning the delightful experiences of passing through the spheres. 
All of the languages of earth are too poor to portray, and the most 
exalted genius of earth too feeble to comprehend such sweet 
delight. 

(b) "Except for certain purposes of good, these advanced 
celestials do not return to the earth spheres, and they are very 
rarely sensed by you. A Bruno, a Plato, a Socrates, will some- 
times 'come down the shining highway' to reveal some of the 
glories of their ethereal homes. 

2467. "You have read what is in some of my works. I will 
quote more of it: Many people speak of God in a very self- 
complacent, knowing sort of way as they and their God work 
things all together to suit themselves, and their spirits are either 
the great God of the universe or some especial vicegerent of his, 
and they make it their business to drive everybody else's God out, 
even if they have to slaughter the whole human race to do so. 
These are Theosophists. The book or books of Moses teach Theos- 
ophy in its legitimate sense. The five or seven books of Moses, 
written by nobody knows whom — though I have told you who 
did a great part of it — are pure Theosophy. And you must con- 
form to that or be taken out of the body. They say: 'My God 
is the only true God.' 'Your God is a false God,' they say. The 
minister says: 'I am a medium for the only wise God. You are 
a medium for the devil. I am. therefore, holier than thou. You 
and your God have no rights that we and our God are bound to 
respect. The earth and the fullness thereof belong to our God 
and to us, and hell is the country for you and your God.' 

24GS. "This is Theosophy. and the whole of the Pentateuch: 
f We are righteous, and you are unrighteous.' 

2400. "Jesus never taught such an abominable doctrine." 

2470. Secretary: "I understood you to tell us that Jesus is 
a myth." 

(a) Paine: "Jesus was not the true name. Josie, nor Jesus, 



410 RENDING THE TAIL. 

nor any other personage was ever such a man as is known to your 
orthodox schools of theology. 

(b) "But I told you there was a man that has been doctored 
up into the ideal theological Jesus, and this ideal is an absolute 
myth. 

(c) "But the Josie — all the real there is in this Jesus — never 
taught such an abominable doctrine as this Mosaic Theosophy 
that is the real basis of your present schools of theology. 

2471. "Paul and those who have put words into his mouth 
were all steeped in the Mosaic Theosophy and established the 
so-called Christian Church on that basis. Paul, having caught a 
glimpse of the glory beyond, by the assistance of some good 
angel, cries out: 'I am the Great I Am, by virtue of election. 
Moses is gone, the prophets all gone, Elijah and Elisha are gone, 
and the mantle has fallen on my shoulders as one born out of 
due season.' 

2472. "And then he undertakes to tell and repeat the story 
of himself and Jesus and never tells it twice alike. 

2473. "Now suppose I should contradict at one time what 
I had said before — and I am pretending to be only a man, only 
Thomas Paine — these good people everywhere would say: 'Poor 
man! low, lying devil! he cannot tell the same story twice.' Paul 
did not do it. [Here the voice of the spirit was so voluminous 
as to fill the room, every nook and corner, full of the sound thereof 
as he uttered the words.] Paul did not tell the truth, and yet 
that sandy foundation is what your theology of to-day is resting 
upon. 

2474. "I have looked over your country during the past week, 
and have considered the influences being brought to bear for its 
better condition, and find that the prospect is brighter than it was 
a week ago. 

2475. "The spirit world is now more able than formerly 
to avert impending disaster to nations, and can bring its influence 
more quickly to bear. 

2476. "I am growing weak for this time. I will try and be 
with you again on next Tuesday night, or at least I hope to be. 
You are all strange to me, except in the capacity we meet, and I 
have become so attached to you as faithful soldiers in this well- 
begun work that I am glad to meet you at any time, though I 
had not known you until introduced to you here, but a short time 
ago. I hope we will all shake hands as good brothers and sisters, 
and that when you will have joined us over here, it will be with 
pleasure that you meet and remember me." 

Oration No. 16. (518.) 

Persecution of Reformers. 

2477. "Friends, T have not spoken much lately, on account 
of new elements in the circle. This retards me. 



READING THE VAIL. 411 

"A thought has been suggested here this evening by the good 
Brother Chase, that I wish to enlarge upon. [Persecution of 
reformers.] 

(a) "Not one of you can realize the meanness — the low-down 
meanness of the opposition to any advance thought. It seems 
that whenever an idea seeks to penetrate the hitherto darkness of 
earth, it must be assailed on all sides by ignorance, superstitution, 
and demons incarnate, who, as is said of Moses under command 
of God did slay thousands of infants on his way to the promised 
land, would slay without mercy any newborn child of truth; and, 
to kill the truth, would slaughter the whole human race. 

(b) "That this craven, murderous spirit among the people 
preys upon the lives of mediums you cannot make too explicit. 

(c) "As Chase has told you, in his book, how he was treated, 
I want to say to you that many mediums have persecution and 
hardships even in the house of their alleged friends, almost 
unbearable. 

(d) "Still the work goes on, and these human hyenas, like 
ghouls, would destroy at every step. Do you think, if the law 
would permit, they would not hang you like a dog? They are 
ignorant, and heathenish in their ignorance. They would murder 
and slaughter all that proposes to give them light. 

2478. "They profess that their Bible teaches them that their 
God justifies the cold-blooded murder of every opposition or pros- 
pective opposition to their blasphemous notions. 

"They are educated that way from the cradle to the grave: 
that it is their business, in order to be justified in the eyes of their 
imaginary bestial God (not the true God of the universe), to go 
forth in war against all enemies of their ignorant, superstitious 
heathenism. 

2479. "Spiritualism does not teach any such abominable doc- 
trine, but that all tribes, nations, tongues, and people are of one 
parentage and equally entitled to inherit the earth as one com- 
mon brotherhood, regardless of political or theological opinions, 
and we are here to herald this good news, in order to your prep- 
aration for the pure democracy of spirit life. 

2480. "Good friends, help us and help true mediums all' you 
can. We are always here when needed. Mind not the proscrip- 
tions. There never was a truth given to the world but was scorned 
and trodden under foot. But this truth shall not be slaughtered. 
It is shining now and will shine on; exposing ignorance and 
heathenism; and that is what ails them: thev cannot bear the 
light. 

2481. "By this light, when they s^et into spirit life, will their 
dark deeds of earth be seen and known bv themselves and by all 
who care to look; by this light shall be their condemnation, and 
their own awakened consciousness the trial court." 



412 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Vocalization No. 17. (523.) 

Paine While on Earth Not a Spiritualist, Except in a Very 
General Sense. 

2482. On being- requested to give us a little talk for the ben- 
efit of the several new investigators present, the spirit replied: 

(a) ''That would be almost useless. They could not compre- 
hend it. They could not be made, at this time, to realize it possi- 
ble for such things to be. They could not but believe their own 
senses in a state of delusion. 

"But, friends, you speak of Spiritualism. 

(&) "Let me say that, while on earth, I was not a Spiritualist, 
as you would now understand it. Nevertheless, in a very liberal 
sense, I was a Spiritualist. 

(c) "I believed in immortality, and that, in a very ethereal 
sense, the departed could hold communion with mortals. 

id) "The way had not then been made clear, as it is to-day. 

(e) "Now the matter is becoming so demonstrable that it 
must be — is bound to be accepted by all such as permit them- 
selves to see the light. 

(/) "Friends, little do you know of your own existence, how 
you came to be, of how the processes by which your being is so far 
perfected. You are here — you know that, and that is about all 
you do know of the matter. How you came here is absolutely an 
unsolved mystery to you. 

(g) "You are here, however, by the process of law — the law 
of evolution, with which, by diligent research, you may to a lim- 
ited extent acquaint yourselves." 

The form could hold no longer; therefore stepped back behind 
the curtains into the cabinet. 

Vocalization No. 18. (543.) 

Waste of Time to Talk of This Truth to Those Who do Not Want to 
Know. — Spirit Magnetism. — Edison Assisted. 

2483. The spirit, in his usually clear, round enunciation, 
said: "Good-evening, friends. I am glad I am with you again. 
It has been some time since I was privileged to speak to you; but 
I have often thought of you while away." 

Mr. House: "Brother Paine, I was talking to some persons 
down in town about you." 

(a) Paine: "I was there and heard the conversation. I 
want to say to you, my good brother, that you waste your breath 
talking to such persons. It is all wasted energy. 

(b) "The best thing that you can do is to let them alone, 
for they are ignorant and blind. 

(c) "Not only that, but they do not want to know the truth 
nor to see the light. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 413 

(d) '-You can afford to wait till you meet them over here and 
hear them say: 'I wish I had learned this with you while on 
earth.' 

(e) "You can afford to wait; but if the} 7 knew, as some time 
they will know, they can't afford to wait. If they will w T ait, however, 
just let them wait. 

if) "If I could have the voice of thunder, I would shake off 
some of the scales. I would talk to the whole people and find a 
few listening ears; but I 'm only a feeble instrument, and they 
must go on to the great awakening hereafter. 

ig) "Now, friends, will you please give me a subject that I 
may speak to?" 

A member of the circle announced: "Spirit Magnetism." 

2484. Paine: "That is a good theme. Spirit magnetism 
cannot be understood by mortals. 

(b) "It is too lofty, too broad, too deep, for the individual 
in mortal life to grasp. It fills the universe. It goes with the 
speed of lightning. 

(c) "It has the force of moving worlds. 

(d) "Spirit magnetism is not like human magnetism. Spirit 
magnetism it is that often comes down, at will of spirits, upon the 
weak, the sick, the afflicted, and heals them, when the dcotors 
claim the honor. 

(e) "While spirit magnetism is different from yours, in some 
sense it is the same. Magnetism emanating from the millions of 
magnetic pores of the surface of the human body is susceptible 
of being used by us for various purposes of utility in demonstrat- 
ing our existence to those yet in the physical. With what has 
been said heretofore on this subject, perhaps this is sufficient 
now. 

if) "If vou have anvthing else, I might stav a little longer." 

2485. Mr. House: "Edison." 

(a) Paine: "If you ask me whether Mr. Edison is highly 
endowed with spiritual faculties, I could soon tell you. 

(b) "If you ask me whether he is guided into his discoveries 
and inventions, I can soon tell you. 

(r) "He is endowed with a favorable physical brain, which 
in spirituality is finely constructed. 

(d) "He is guided by the spirit world in all his inventions, 
yet he claims them as the work of Mr. Edison. 

(e) "The spirit world gives them to Mr. Edison, and he gets 
the pay and the credit. 

(f) "His lale invention [the graphophone] is a good thing, 
but it is not original. It, as to him, is not genuine. 

2480. "Look to the grand things we have done for man, for 
the world. Not a day nor an hour but what we are back here 
helping individuals and the world along. For nearly all the good 
things in physics that you have to-day the world is indebted, 
more or less, to us. 



414 RENDING THE VAIL. 

{a) "Yet the cry is: 'Why don't these spirits do something 
of some benefit, that will make somebody some money?' We are 
not around hunting gold for you. W T e come not here to run down 
criminals for a reward. 

(b) "We are on a different plane. We are here for the pur- 
pose of bringing you light and news from the to you far-away 
countries. 

(c) "If, from what we do for the benefit of the world, some- 
body makes some money for a time, we see that by and by the 
monopoly will be broken and the world benefited. 

(d) "All the pay we would ask would be the credit, which, 
sooner or later, all will know to be our due." 

Vocalization No. 19. (561.) 

Went with Medium to Hear a Sermon, and Now Criticises the Ser- 
mon. — Death is Only as Lying Down to Sleep and Awaking 
in Another Country. 

2487. "Friends, I am glad to be here again. You are to get 
grand messages from this little instrument. 

(a) "I had not thought to speak, here, at this time, but am 
permitted, by those on this side, to do so. 

(b) "I was down at the park with the medium this afternoon, 
and heard that address. 

(c) "The idea that persons of intelligence will sit there and 
listen to such as some of that w T as, looks a little ridiculous. 

2488. "Now T that minister sets himself up as God's agent to 
talk to the people. 

(a) "He never saw God — never will see him. He knows God 
does not authorize him to be God's medium, and yet he proclaims 
that he is, and that what he says to the people is the will of 
God through him. This is hypocrisy, and nine-tenths of these 
self-appointed mediums of God are just that kind of hypocrites. 

(o) "Could I have spoken, I would have told the people very 
differently in some things; but though I could have done so, they 
would not have listened. 

(c) "They, however, are going to that land from which they 
will listen to no voice, and when they get there, they will be 
awfully disappointed. 

(d) "But not long; and all those who will not listen will 
be permitted to dwell in darkness for want of the light that they 
have only to open their willfully closed eyes and behold. 

2489. "There is one God and but one God, and that the God 
of Nature, or rather the God Nature, which takes in everything. 

(a) "I thought and wrote a great deal concerning this mat- 
ter, when I was on earth, that, since coming here, I find to be 
literally true. 

(&)" "I find, too, that I have yet as much sense as when on 
earth. 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 415 

(c) "Those who listen to the teachings of the Bible, as inter- 
preted by creeds, concerning the hereafter, have long faces and 
solemn countenances. I am glad to see such smiling faces as 
yours. You are not scared into fear of death, but taught that 
death is only lying down and going to sleep to awaken in a beau- 
tiful morning." 



&• 



Vocalization No. 20. (590.) 

The Bouquet of Flowers. — S.D.s (Soul Doctors) Work for Money 
the Same as M.D.s. 

2490. "Good-evening, friends. It has been some time since 
I was here. You must know that when I am not here, there is 
some reason for it. I may be near you, in your very midst, and 
yet not known to you. 

(a) ''Conditions are not always such as make it expedient 
for me to appear to you. They are not such at this time as I 
would have, but we cannot always have things our way. 

(b) "Friends, we must have more telegraphy and more illus- 
trations for our book. We have much more to give you yet. You 
must be here and attend to it — do your part, or we cannot give 
you what we w T ant and you need for the book. 

(c) "I would be glad if you give me a subject — something 
that we have not already descanted upon." 

(d) Mrs. House: "There is a large bouquet on the desk by 
your side." 

Spirit: "Thank you, good lady. 

2491. "Flowers are beautiful things — so sensitive, so tender, 
so sweet. 

(a) "When I was on earth, I had them in my studio, winter 
and summer. They were so enchanting to me then. They are 
much more so now. Flowers have an ethereal aroma in which 
pure spirits delight to bask. You cannot, in your coarse nature, 
understand flowers. 

(&) "When you get to the standard of flowers, you will be 
nearly or quite a spirit. Then, and not sooner, will you be able to 
understand and comprehend flowers. 

(c) "Flowers mean a great deal. 

(d) "Flowers are emblems of purity. 

(e) "Flowers speak of the innocent time of life's fair 
morning. 

(f) "Flowers tell of the sweet influence of a pure and noble 
life. 

(g) "Nature has put those little things upon the earth for 
companions of the good soul that sheds forth its benevolence and 
charity as they. 

(h) "Flowers are for you to admire — for you to study. 
(i) "You can learn to admire and adore their unfolding as 
emblems of the evolution of your own being; and, in your admi- 



416 RENDIXG THE VAIL. 

ration of the glorious flowers, you can become pure like unto 
them. When you become a Spiritualist, you must be pure. None 
but a pure Spiritualist can understand the grandeur of flowers to 
spirits. 

(j) "When you speak of flowers — how they spring up, how 
beautifully they grow — watch their tender and gentle unfolding! 

(h) "Flowers always did exist. More certain prophets are 
they, and ever have been, than all the sweet singers of Israel. 

(?) "Flowers have such wonderful love. Oh, that I could 
make you understand their value! 

(m) "The flower dies, withers away, gives its life to bloom 
again. One flower goes, another takes its place. 

(n) "You die, and another takes your place — but none can 
ever exactly fill your place. 

(o) "This is a prophecy that you eternally fill your own place. 

2492. "13ut, friends, I would not be Thomas Paine were I to 
make a speech and not say something of the Bible. I therefore 
will leave for a time the flowers blooming alone, while I notice 
some theologie thorns among the roses. 

(a) "While away, I have been to see a great many people. 
I see that a great revolution is coming. Christianity as it is to- 
day must go down. Think of that ignorance that accepts the 
doctrine: 

(&) "You must be baptized or go to hell. 

(c) "I want to say to you that the teachers of that dogma 
themselves will go to hell. 

{d) "Why do they preach that or any other dogma? Not for 
your salvation, sure. 

249'?. "They know that they are not vicegerents, and they 
know full well that when they set up such pretensions they 
are only lying. They know full well that their purpose in being 
educated for the ministry is the same as the purpose of the law 
or medical student — exactly the same : Not to save souls, but to 
save bread and butter. 

2494. "If the lawyer lets you think you have a case, it is for 
the fees. 

2495. "If the physician lets you think you are sick, and 
that there is no road to recovery but by his aid and a prescrip- 
tion bill for his chosen druggist, it is all right for the M.D. to 
draw heavily upon you for money, whether he does vou any good 
or not. 

2496. "So the preacher, the soul doctor (S.D. instead of D.D.) 
tells you your soul is sick — that you have an hereditary trouble 
with your soul which only God, through the vicegerents on earth, 
the S.D.s, can cure; and God has said, 'The laborer [S.D.] is worthy 
of his hire'; you therefore are required to pay the S.D. so much 
gold, and silver, and stock, and yellow-legged chickens, for impor- 
tuning in your behalf; and in hypocrisy they stand up in a long- 
tailed coat and tell vou how they love God and their dear Jesus. 



RENDIXG THE TAIL. 417 

2497. ''When they know that if you shut off the gold, the 
silver, the chicken, and the praises of the women, they would 
never preach you another sermon. 

2498. "But let a man have honest convictions and live ac- 
cordingly thereto, and this is redeeming power. 

2499. "But sacerdotal robes will not hide even the hypocrisy 
of the pulpit, and one day there will be more judgment and far- 
ther reaching than even the self-appointed vicarships did bar- 
gain for. 

2500. "We have a vast army over here — not an army of 
guns, but of mighty influence. Call to us when in trouble, and 
we '11 meet you with outstretched hands. Here we meet and 
part no more. Our meeting then is forever and forever." 

Oration Xo. 21 (593.) 

The Spirit Paine Claims Author ship of Declaration of Independence. 

. 2501. "Good-evening, friends. I am here again. I am glad 
to see so many smiling countenances, and to find you all so happy. 
I do not wish to occupy all the time. I must give way and make 
room for your friends. 1 am glad to see any brother or sister take 
an interest in this grand good work. 

(a) "It seems to me that I am as tangible as when on earth, 
although I can as easily thrust my hand and arm through this, 
body as you can yours through the atmosphere. I will try and 
be here at your next meeting. 

{b) "There is a question here that has not yet been answered. 

2502. "I am the one who wrote the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. I studied hard, but finally succeeded. 

2503. "And now this 'bread of life' that is being given you 
many a poor soul wants and is famishing for, but, being held 
down by priestcraft, is not permitted one morsel of this heavenly 
manna. 

2504. "If I could have the power to make them see the 
truth — but then, instead of accepting it, they would hang you 
until dead, dead!" 

Oration Xo. 22. (607.) 

The Laic and the Church Are the Greatest of All Curses to the ^Yo^Jd. 

2505. "It seems to me that I have been away a long time. 
"Now, friends, when I look abroad over your world, and see 

the people so creed-bound by the religions of earth, it seems that 
the Declaration of Independence has gone but little way. 

2506. "Creedal religion has ruined many a good and true 
person. It binds the soul as with galling fetters, while it opiates 
and hoodwinks its devotees till they neither see nor feel their 
dark condition. 



418 RENDING THE TAIL. 

2507. "And if some poor soul begins to wince, and desires 
to see his way, that soul is bidden be still under pain of social 
ostracism, excommunication, and that modern invention, boycott. 
You are dragged to the lowest social notch — and in the name 
of God. 

2508. "This God, through his sanctimonious medium, the 
preacher, issues his 'bull of eternal damnation' and tells you to 
leave his body of chosen saints and henceforth wander among 
devils and outcasts! 

2509. "Oh, this accursed doctrine! They may scoff from be- 
hind their self -righteousness, in their self -established sacred desk. 
But the world is fast learning what Thomas Paine was when on 
earth, and will come to it as certainly as the world stands. 

2510. "They may say they do not believe these teachings; 
and therefore will not examine. But it is only ignorance and fear 
that prevents. 

2511. "They know they have done wrong, they know they 
continually do wrong, and they fear that it is but too true that 
spirits can and will expose their wrongdoings; they fear that if 
they give the chance, spirits will reveal their real inwardness. 

2512. "We give honest persons the best we can. But those 
who denounce as fraud all such things, thinking thereby to post- 
pone the day of the revelation of the writing being made in their 
book of life, are only 'heaping coals of fire' upon themselves. 
Take warning of these. 

2513. "Show me the man, in all your community, that is 
fearful to come here, and you will see in him something that he 
wants to keep in darkness and is afraid that it may be revealed. 
Some of them who are thus afraid, and put you off, saying, 'Oh, 
yes, I will go soon,' do this to put you off, to get rid of you. 
They do not intend to come. That same man does wrong every 
day — robs his neighbor of his goods, of his name; does something 
that would show a bad record. This is the reason they do not 
wish to come. The controlling influence, too, sometimes, is some- 
one they think is upright in life, but who is, nevertheless, a hypo- 
crite. And this spirit can control as long as you remain in that 
condition subject to its will. Should a maniac always remain 
such? Let them go into the light and learn how we can come 
back, and know for themselves whereof we speak. 

2514. "They say: 'If it were not for the churches, we would 
be without civilization.' But I say: If there were no Church 
and no law, the people would be far better off — more like they 
are in India. Self-government would be more practiced and 
greatly more efficacious in the absence of all written law and its 
executives. 

2515. "The law and the Church are the greatest of all curses 
to the world. 

(a) "Don't you know that when you are told, 'Here is a law 
you must obey under heavy penalty,' your disposition is to retal- 
iate — does retaliate? 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 419 

(b) "If some one say to you, 'Go and kill that man or 1 will 
kill you,' do you suppose you would do it? You would say, 'No, 
sir; kill me, if you dare, but do your own killing.' 

(c) "And if you get a murderous disposition on you, and 
someone say to you, 'Kill, if you dare, and 1 will kill you,' the 
effect is not to stay, but to stimulate the uplifted murderous arm. 

(d) "If you say to a man, 'You shall bring me an article,' he 
says, 'I won't do it; get it yourself, if you can.' 

2516. "But if, instead, you say, 1 am much in need of that 
article, am hardly able to get it myself, and would be ever so 
much obliged if you assist me to it,' 

(a) "Then you say, 'All right, my good friend; you shall 
have it.' 

(b) "Where there is no law, everyone becomes a law unto 
himself. 

(c) "Crime is everywhere committed in defiance of the law. 

2517. "The law does not prevent murder, arson, robbery, 
larceny. 

2518. "But when your ignorance is so far removed that you 
can discern the cause of it all, you will see that every law regu- 
lating or presumably regulating property relations is always in 
favor of one class — caste, and against the other — unfortunate. 

2519. "So long as you lay down a law and say to your child, 
'Sonny, if you break that law, I will punish you,' you develop an- 
tagonism in the race. 

2520. "But when you learn to say, 'Sonny, you have certain 
relations to the world and to man and to yourself hereafter that 
you can better fill for your own good if j 7 ou learn to know what 
your own being and your happiness demand and obey those de- 
mands,' and teach to love and do the right for the sake of the 
right, you will produce a race of people that will be far above 
and not amenable to any human statute; and who will make nor 
have other statutes than 'Let every one be a law unto himself,' and 
by that of his own acts and writing, and decrees be glorified or 
condemned, and statute laws binding the masses of the people 
and enslaving them to the few would no longer make criminals 
of cringing slaves, and all would be prepared to come to this side 
of life with lessons all ready for the onward movement of the 
race in the telling of the people how to raise their children." 

Oration No. 23. (66G.) 

The God as Taught by Common Orthodox Theology Not the True God, 
but Only Ideal — Idol. 

2521. "Friends, I desire to speak — it must be a mania with 
me, I suppose — but you say, 'There is a God, a good, just, kind, 
merciful God.' 

2522. "Such a being, with power to prevent, would not 



420 RENDING THE VAIL. 

sicken and torture the little babe until it be dead. Think of the 
hundreds of thousands of little children that this good and kind 
and all-merciful God racks with pain, misery, sorrow, until death 
as a welcome guest relieves them from the hand of this tortur- 
ing God! 

2523. "Think of the earthquakes sinking whole peoples to 
despair and destruction by decree of this merciful personal God! 

2524. "You say he is kind to those he calls good. Why does 
he cause them to suffer side by side with the lowest outcasts? 
And yet you must believe there is a personal God of that kind or 
go to an endless hell. Oh, friends! Why do you worship such a 
heathenish idol? I am not speaking in blasphemy of any true 
God, but to show you that there is no such God, in reality, as 
taught in common theology. 

2525. "They tell you that their God, according to his recorded 
word, commanded his chosen people to go forth to war with all • 
other people, termed heathen, and kill all their male children! 

2526. "My friends, to worship such a being, for which hang- 
ing would be too good, certainly could hardly be done by rational 
people. When you get over here, you will understand why I 
talk so. 

2527. "They call you crazy. I 'd rather be crazy than to be 
a fool. If you be crazy, you may have brain; but if a fool, you 
have not brain. 

2528. "A man who would worship a being having the char- 
acteristics ascribed to Jehovah must certainly be a fool. 

2529. "Why do people not understand this sublime philoso- 
phy? Why do they fear to come here? They know there is much 
in their lives that they would not have the world to know; and 
they fear that Dutchman would make unpleasant revelations. 
They fear Sam worse than they fear their God. 

2530. "I can now see the vileness of things among people 
to a much greater extent than when on earth. I can more clearly 
see how the strong trample on the weak. I can see how oppres- 
sion, in the name of Jehovah, is worked out among the peonle. 
Oh, friends, there are terrible things, in the name of this Jehovah, 
enacted upon weak humanity! Words fail me to express the 
vileness of this great idolatry." 

Oration No. 24. (697.) 

Proper Education of Children. 

2531. "Friends, I am here again. I have been absent some 
time. I could not speak when those good friends were here the 
past few days, because conditions would not permit. I suppose 
it is all right. Had I spoken, perhaps I would have said some- 
thing that would have sounded harsh to them. 

2532. "I wish at this time to speak of the education of 
children. 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 421 

[a) "You can learn science — algebra, geometry, geology, 
natural history — and can teach and have the children learn sucn 
things all their days, but after a whole life on earth is spent in 
that way, of what value is it all to the future life? You can not, 
do not appropriate it to any great extent to anything of great 
and lasting utility not coupled with a great spirituality. 

2533. ''What is needed, then, is first to teach the children 
how to properly conduct themselves, And this must be done by 
having their confidence. Otherwise you destroy what spirituality 
they already have. 

(a) "You should teach them to know what is right and what 
is wrong for their own sakes; not for God's sake, or for Christ's 
sake, but for themselves, under the eternal law of right and 
wrong as founded in Nature. 

2534. "Next their spirituality should be attended to. Teach 
them to be more spiritual, and unless the teacher understand 
spiritual things, how can he teach spirituality? 

(a) "As the child becomes more spiritual it does better in 
all things. If you find you cannot cultivate spirituality, you 
find that, in most cases, the pupil has been fed on scientific dry 
husks or indigestible theology. 

2535. "That old Bible and every vestige of false theology 
must be cleared out of the school-room and out of the way before 
a pure spirituality can be built up. 

2536. "You suppose you have free schools — secular schools; 
but, with small exceptions, you are far from it. You have the 
Bible in the school-room. You open your school in the morning 
by reading a chapter from that book as giving the highest possible 
lessons in everything. Then, perhaps, you follow with prayer, 
and end up with an old orthodox doxology, and, the children's 
minds all darkened and beclouded with false spirituality, you are 
ready to go on with the lessons, every one of which is contra- 
dictory of the whole opening ceremony. You must get that Bible 
out of the way at school. It is not a fit book to read to children 
or to have children read." 

2537. Here some one of the circle mentioned that perhaps 
the persecution Paine had received makes him so bitter against 
orthodoxy and the Bible. But the spirit, replying, said: 

2538. "No, my friends, not on account of any persecution I 
ever received, but on account of truth, as you will one day find, 
I thus do speak. 

"I can prove that that book speaks of murder, prostitution, 
licentiousness, and every possible vileness, in the name of sanc- 
tity and by order of the great Jehovah. 

(a) "That book is full of falsehood from Genesis to Revela- 
tion, as taught to the children. 

(b) "It, all the way through, contradicts the plainest teach- 
ings of science in the school-room. Is that a fit book to read to 
children, or, indeed, to any person?" 



422 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Oration No. 25. (725.) 

Individuality. — The Booh of Spirit Ether. — The Great Judgment. 

2539. "We challenge the world — we challenge the clergy, to 
come here and produce one single thing that we do. They do 
not, they dare not accept the challenge. They are afraid this is 
true. They don't want to see the truth. They never did want 
to see the truth. They have ever been ready to persecute, to 
anathematize, to hang all such as do want and dare to look for 
the truth. 

(a) "And when this same rabble — it has always been the 
rabble, and it is the rabble to day, voicing the sentiment behind 
the throne — would persecute you, you need not listen to them; 
nor, indeed, is it worth while to talk to them about this great 
work. You may as well talk to a stick of wood: for a stick of 
wood has as much brain-power to comprehend this grand philoso- 
phy as has this rabble. Nor can you any more put brains of 
understanding into them than you can into a stick of wood. The 
time you spend attempting to enlighten them is time wasted. 
If any of them wish to know of this truth, let them come to the 
front like men. But those who are only images of men, as though 
shaped out of putty, you can do no good with. Why should you 
be anxious about them? Don't get discouraged because they 
will not or can not see the light that you see. You would not 
wish all to be possessed of faculties alike. It would not be proper 
for all to be alike. No two are alike. 

2540. "In Nature no two forms are alike. All differ. Indi- 
viduality is stamped on everything. It only does me good to speak 
to people who can appreciate what I may say. I may not talk 
as sublimely as some would like, but I can now tell a truth that, 
when they get here, they will find to be so full of eloquence as 
to be made manifest to every person that ever lived or ever will 
live on the earth and pass to spirit life. 

2541. "Everything that any person ever does records itself 
in a book of spirit ether. That book is open to the inspection of 
the whole spirit world when you come over here with it. 

2542. "That book of spirit ether is your aura. 

2543. "You never can get away from that book. 

2544. "Every bad act you ever do, as well as all the good, 
is indelibly recorded in that book. 

2545. "You may call that book a book of psychic ether if 
you like. 

2546. "In your psychic ether, when you get over here, you 
will find a record of every transaction of your whole lives, in 
characters as plain as daylight, which you and all the spirit 
world may read at pleasure. 

2547. "This record is the judgment. 

2548. "By this we see how much you are in the bonds of 
ignorance. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 423 

2549. "What is necessary to lead you out of that darkness? 

2550. "You have heard that, in the olden time, 'He went and 
preached to spirits in prison.' 

2551. "It is the duty of every enlightened spirit to-day to 
hunt the records for spirits in prison and go and preach to them. 

2552. "While you cannot blot out the dark pages in the book 
of life, you may overbalance the dark with bright and better- 
pages. 

2552J. "For this cause come we 'down the shining highway/ 
Our very endeavors to lift the vail of theological darkness, super- 
stition, and ignorance by which so many millions of earth's 
children are held in prison, and so in prison come to this side of 
life, adds to the better or credit column of our own book of life. 

2553. "While we are teaching you, you, also, are teaching us. 

2554. "Every good act as much or more benefits the doer 
of the act as the recipient. And you want to remember one 
other thing — that 

2555. "Everything you do that injures your fellow-man is 
double leaded in the debtor column of your own account with 
yourself. 

2556. "This may not seem eloquent to you now, my good 
friends, but when those who hear these words of eternal law and 
heed them not shall wake up to the great reality, they will then 
say: 'Oh, that we had more thoroughly considered the wonder- 
ful words of the spirit of Thomas Paine!' " 

Oration No. 26. (739.) 

"Don't Give up the Ship." 

2557. "Friends, in answer to that question, I will tell you 
that there is no propagation in spirit life. 

2558. "That occurs only in the physical, at a certain stage 
of evolution ; and neither before nor after that period in the phys- 
ical does it or can it occur. 

2559. "We try to bring you joy. 

2560. "We try to bring you peace. 

2561. "We trv to bring vou happiness. 

2562. "We try to uplift' humanity. 

2563. "What we are trying to do and what we are doing 
through these instruments [mediums] you can never realize until 
you pass to these realms. Then you will see the good of these 
instruments. Then you will see, too, the good you are helping on. 

2564. "Now, as I am in the mercy of you all, I hardly know 
what is best. You have been faithful. We have been faithful. 

2565. "The more persons you get in that render harmonious 
conditions the better for us. The more we can do. 

2566. "I know the difficulties that have surrounded and that 
still surround vou. Bv and bv thev will be^in to remove. Yon 



424 RENDING THE VAIL. 

are moving the train up hill now, slower and slower to the top. 
{a) "After awhile, you will have down grade — easy going — 
all will move of its own gravity. 

(b) "Keep on, friends, to the top; then rest and drink in the 
grandeur as you move on swiftly over the other side of the hill 
and over the great expansive beyond. You are bound to get 
through after awhile. 

(c) "Never mind the persecutions. There never was a truth 
but what was tried to be crushed, to be killed. Don't keep your 
hands in your pockets, but out and at the work, moving it along. 
Your reward for every effort is sure and will be abiding. Don't 
despond. 'Don't give up the ship.' " 

Oration No. 27. (753.) 

Revivals Teach the People False Doctrines. 

2567. "Good-evening, friends. I am here again, after a long 
absence. [Aside, to one of the circle.] I like to see one like you. 
I see you are having a revival — protracted meeting of the M. E. 
Church. They are doing your town more harm than all the Spir- 
itualists in the world do it. They are teaching false doctrines. 
More false than fabled hell. Doctrines they cannot substantiate. 

2508. "They say to the people: 'You must repent and be 
baptized or you must go to hell.' That is not true. 

2569. "They tell you that if you repent and be baptized, 
that God will blot out from the book of remembrance all your 
sins. That, too, is false. 

2570. "That book which you call the Bible is itself full of 
untruth. 

2571. "That book is sold in stores, in shops. It is hardly 
found in libraries — is too obscene to be permitted to pass through 
the mails, and is almost excluded from the libraries of the learned. 

2572. "If it had been permitted to go on in its fullness, what 
would your world have been? One field of brutal carnage, and a 
serfdom to some imaginary God domineering the world by his 
usurping vicegerents." 

Oration No. 28. (807.) 

Future Effect of False Religious Teaching. 

2573. "I hope I shall have better success than the good 
Brother Denton had. 

(a) "Now, if there be anything you wish to hear me talk 
about, I will gladly do so." 

2574. Question : "In the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette there 
appeared, recently, an article touching the opinion of Edison and 
others respecting the origin of life, etc. Now, Mr. Paine, what 
is your opinion as to the matters spoken of in that article?" 



RENDING THE VAIL. 425 

(a) Spirit: "I am not versed in that field of investigation as 
my good brothers Denton and Faraday. I was not a scientist 
when on earth, neither does my mind rim so much in that line now. 

ib) "But Mr. Edison gives opinion. As long as you read 
opinion you will have opinion. I could give you opinion until your 
brain would become dizzy. In fact, opinion is what ails your 
world to-day. Opinion has nearly ruined your country. 

(c) "Fact is what you want. Fact is what we are here to 
tell you, but you can know nothing of life's origin until you 
reach the realm of spirit. Of course, each person has a right to 
his opinion, and the endeavor to arrive at one's own conclusions 
is on evolutionary lines; but the danger is that egotism, and not 
reason, is the more developed — and that to such an extent that 
sometimes one w T ill set up his opinion adversely to the facts, 
especially in the religious field. Such religious opinions are the 
ones that have nearly ruined your country. I have heretofore 
told you of the direful bane of bigoted religious opinions. To 
save yourselves and to save your country you w T ant to get away 
from opinion into the region of fact." 

2575. Question: "What is light?" 

(a) Spirit: "Light is a wave motion. You know that, Mr. 
Secretary?" 

Secretary: "I have been of that opinion." 

(b) Spirit: "There it is again — opinion. Sir, that is not, to 
you, an opinion. It has been revealed to or impressed upon your 
mind as a fact. That impression has been made there by some one 
that knew the fact." 

Miss Moore: "Light is a wave motion of matter, I suppose?" 

(c) Spirit: "Light is a wave motion of matter." 
257G. Secretary: "Heat, solar?" 

(a) Spirit: "Some suppose that heat comes direct from the 
sun. It does not. Influences from the sun cause certain agita- 
tions in your earth's envelope that is the phenomenon of heat; 
but this has been discussed here by others. I am not a scientist." 

2577. Secretary: "You say that the teachings of what we 
call the orthodox religion are almost wholly false. What rela- 
tion does such religious training here bear to the condition of the 
person in the future life?" 

Spirit: "Much has been said by us on this point; but, to 
answer that fully, I shall have to begin at the beginning. 

{a) "You have been reared in the orthodox religion all your 
life. Your first lesson is concerning a personal being, pictured on 
your plastic mind as having all the passions of man, yet in an 
omnipotent degree is God. 

(I) "Then another, the son of God, who is, also, God — except 
that the son never, like his father, yielded to temptations and 
passions; and so on through the whole mess down to a city of 
jasper walls and gold-paved streets. 

(c) "This training during a whole lifetime of sixty years. 



426 RENDING THE VAIL. 

more or less, fixes this ideal in your mind as a certain reality. It 
has become an abnormal part of your nature. You feel as sure 
that, when done with earth, you will find that orthodox God in 
all his three parts, with a gold-glittering heaven for yourself and 
its counterpart for your neighbor, as you can be of anything. 

(d) "So, when you pass to this sphere of life, you expect to 
find all things just as you have been told during all your earthly 
journey. 

2578. "But alas! How mistaken! 

(a) "No orthodox God — neither in whole nor in parts — takes 
you by the hand. No convoy of winged angels meets you here. 
You grope your way in darkness. Y^our earthly training has not 
unfolded your spiritual nature to self-dependence. 

(&) "In spirit you are yet a babe. Your training you received 
on earth not only was all wasted there, but retards your develop- 
ment here. 

(c) "After you have been here a time, slowly awakening from 
the false relation in which your orthodox training placed you, you 
meet a friend who has been here long years before you. This 
friend at last gets you to recognize him. He asks .you what you 
are expecting. Y^ou say: 'I want to find my God. I want to 
find my Savior. Can you show me where to go?' 

(cl) "The friend tells you: 'I have been here a long, long 
time. I have never seen such persons. Those who have been 
here for ages tell me they know no such person or persons as 
you call your God and Savior.' 

(e) "Y"ou say: 'Oh, there is — there surely must be!' You 
look on and on; and, failing to find your great Jehovah, you 
begin to look for something — you know not what. 

(f) "You meet another friend, who tells you of your igno- 
rance and your vain search. 'I hunted,' he tells you, 'in vain.' 

(g) "Y"ou say: 'Oh, friend, you must know. Tell me, that I 
may go to him!' 

(h) "But you finally wake up to the fact that you have been 
taught wrong, that your whole earth life has been lost! 

(i) "Then you are ready to begin where your training on 
earth should have begun. 

2579. "The reason or point whereon you Spiritualists are 
advantaged is that you will not go looking for a savior. You take 
your savior with you. And you can thank your parents for that. 
Your parents, in this regard, are your guardian angels. Your 
earthly parents cannot guide you, but spirits can — and sometimes 
they can guide you wrong. No angels here with wings; they all 
are human, having eyes, ears, hair, and every characteristic of 
the human perfect. 

2580. "You wish to trust to your own individuality, and your 
soul-growth will be much better as you do so. 

"I must go now. Good-night, friends." 
And the spirit was gone. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 427 

Oration No. 29. (861.) 

Drunkenness, Cause and Cure. — Church Relations to Temperance. 

2581. The spirit, standing in the cabinet dorway, said: "Is 
there anything you would have me discuss at this time?" 

Question: "Mr. Paine, Prof. Denton was just now talking to 
us concerning the habit of drunkenness. Is it not a fact that on 
that subject, at least, the Church is doing some good?" 

(a) Paine: "When you speak to me that there is any general 
good that the so-called Christian Church is doing the world, I 
almost become indignant. And in this case I answer that the so- 
called Christian Church of to-day is doing no general good toward 
lessening drunkenness and its evils. The little work the Church 
does now and then by way of reform in the use of intoxicants 
is not permanent, and there is nothing that is good that is not 
lasting. 

(&) "Spiritualism — not as an 'ism,' but as a science — is that 
that can cure drunkenness. 

"As the good brother has told you, unseen influences of arisen 
earthly passions are ever seeking satiation of mortal passions, 
and the millions of drunkards continually passing to spirit life 
are ever hovering over mortals, and such as they can control 
they bear irresistibly down the great maelstrom. 

2582. "The science of Spiritualism alone can teach the world 
how to get away from these influences. 

(a) "The Church may sometimes occasion a drunkard to quit 
the bowl. 

(b) "Then at communion service the cup of wine, surrounded 
by thousands of unseen bacchanalian influences, is put to the 
lips of this struggling soul, and he is bound again and dragged 
down to the very pits of hell. 

(c) "But when the drunkard sees his situation, and, with a 
strong will, says, 'Away from me, ye vile influences; ye shall 
trouble me no more! Avaunt ye; I '11 be your slave no longer!' 
then comes a higher angel, a better influence surrounds and pro- 
tects him. So long as he maintains this position, he is safe. 

2583. "The great trouble with the Church is that it will 
have no reform without its theology; and its theology, being 
false from bottom to top, destroys its influences for good in any 
reform, especially when unseen influences are in the case. 

2584. "When you reach Spiritualism, you are down to facts. 
It is not the 'isni,' but the fact. The science of life, on both 
sides, and that alone, is the hope of the world. In that, and 
that alone, may you look for the redemption of the human race. 

2585. "But the Church to-day, as it ever has been, is opposed 
to having the people know the facts of the future life. 

(a) "The whole priesthood can better hold the people in 
their clutches by keeping them in ignorance and darkness. 



423 RENDING THE VAIL. 

(b) "Never did a ray of light struggle through cloud-rifts 
but what the Church threw dust in the air to close up the rift 
in the darkness, praying and shouting: 'Away with the light! 
Our God is the great God, and has given us all the light we 
should have.' 

2586. "If I could stand before the world, I would tell them 
how they teach the children — preaching to them a false system; 
how they preach temperance and use wine. 

2587. "I would like to tell the people when they say, 'Chris- 
tianity always existed,' that it is not so. It is a conjured-up 
system. Different parts of the Bible were written in different 
languages — written by men, you know not whom, translated 
from one language into another, and finally into English. Convo- 
cations of interested priests have, by vote, determined what writ- 
ings are divine and what not. And, on scriptures thus conjured, 
constructed a system and called it divine and name it the Chris- 
tian system; when their own conjured scriptures do not reveal 
that their Christ established any system, but that 'he blotted out 
the handwriting of ordinances, which was against us, and took 
it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.' 

2588. "They tell you that in order to salvation you must 
'drink wine that the priest putteth to your mouth.' They tell 
you that this is a part of an ordinance of God now binding upon 
Gentile Christians to observe. 

2589. "But this same Bible says that the apostles and elders 
and brethren, being assembled together, formulated a letter and 
sent it to the Gentiles concerning ordinances, and this is a part 
of that alleged letter: 'For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost 
and to us to lay upon you no greater burdens than these neces- 
sary things: that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and 
from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; 
from which, if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ve 
well.' (Acts xv. 28-29.) It would seem that here is a hint to the 
effect that either modern orthodoxy is at fault or their Bible is 
unreliable." 

Oration No. 30. (1013-1014.) 

Government Cannot Long Exist Part Monarchy and Part an Excuse for 
Freedom. — Present Political Agitation. 

2590. (a) "I am not now so much interested in politics; 
but will say that war, revolution, terrible war may be expected, 
which will drive your nation in its government back to first 
principles. 

(b) "Could you travel as I have traveled and look into the 
homes of people as I have and do; could you see the anxious, 
desponding, as I have seen them; could you go into the humble 
homes of earth and hear cries and wailings of despair as I have 
heard them; could you see little children starving in a land of 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



429 



plenty like your own; could you see and hear and discern all 
this, and your heart is not of stone, you would be melted in your 
very inmost being to make inquiry: 'What shall be done?" 

2591. "I say to you, my friends of earth, your government 
cannot long exist part monarchy and part an excuse for freedom. 
It must become a monarchy or democracy; and it seems the 
sword must determine the matter/' 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Psychic Writings of Prof. M. Faraday. 

2593. The reader, from the 
portrait, can form some idea of 
the appearance of the Faraday 
apparition when standing or 
sitting in view of the circle at 
the wonderful execution of his 
manuscripts as mentioned in 
the seance minutes. But as to 
farther statement and biogra- 
phy, this spirit, standing in 
sight of the circle, made this 
writing, to-wit : 

"Dear friends, I have noticed 
some agitation of thought in re- 
gard to some of the recent arti- 
cles I have written for your 
book now about to be pub- 
lished. 

"I did not deem it essential 
to place quotation marks about 
my own previously expressed 
views. 

"I was obliged to write in a Faradayic manner in order to 
prove my identity, now, in spirit. 

"It is best that I should give you now a short biographical 
sketch, that you may know I am the genuine Michael Faraday. 
"At thirteen years of age I was bound apprentice to a Lon- 
don book-seller and book-binder, having been placed there by my 
parents, who were intuitive enough to do so, thinking the manu- 
facture of books would facilitate my getting a knowledge of their 
contents. In this they were wise, for I remained in the shop after 
working hours and perused their contents. This was the begin- 
ning of my interest in science. 











<?: 








w 








^J&f 


W 


^Ife' - 



2592, Prof. M. FARADAY. (1080,1081.) 



430 RENDING THE VAIL. 

"Mrs. Marclit's 'Conversations on Chemistry' excited my 
curiosity and led me out in the broad fields of experimental phi- 
losophy. I always felt the deepest veneration for Mrs. Marclit, 
and it was a great delight to me, in after years, to form her ac- 
quaintance and tell her of my gratefulness to her. as long as 
she lived 1 sent her a copy of all my philosophical papers as they 
appeared. 

"At the age of twenty-two I wrote to Sir Humphrey Davy, of 
the Koyal Institution of England, asking to be put in a way of 
devoting my life to scientific pursuits. This was granted, and 
I accepted the situation just vacated by William Payne. 

"Eight years afterward, having acquired a certain decree of 
proficiency, I took my young wife into the rooms of the Royal 
Institution, and there we lived most happily for forty-six years. 

"The last experiment entered in my book is No. 16045. 

"I do not regret that I refused the £150,000 and died a poor 
man. I am now reaping my reward. 
"Yours for science, 

(Signed) "Michael Faraday." 

Writing No. 1. (49.) 

2594. "We are compelled by this process to enter upon 
such a course of study as to place us upon a line of new ideas 
that as yet are scarcely dreamed of by the most advanced minds 
upon your earth plane, and cannot be understood even when we 
simplify the principle in such language as can be comprehended 
by mortals. 

2595. "With patience Ave thought to perfect our knowledge 
of this process so that we may reach you without interruption, 
and present to you a knowledge of the spirit world. 

(Signed) "Prof. Faraday." 

Writing No. 2. (Ill f.) 

Teachers of Error Held to the Victim's Ideal until Error is Broken. 

2596. "This work is for the benefit of the whole earth, aud 
is not confined to any narrow section or hamlet with selfish 
motives. 

2597. "The result which may come from us is pure spiritual 
wisdom, seeking to open the channels for the transmission of 
knowledge. 

2598. "We have a positive law in the spirit world that holds 
the teachers of error to the ideality of their victim until the power 
of error is broken by the influx of truth. 

2599. "We have no bitterness nor any disposition to arouse 
antagonistic passions that pertain to the personage; but, rather, 
as the genial rays of the sun stimulate the soil to bring forth 



RENDING THE VAIL. 431 

fruits which bless humanity, so with spiritual light from higher 
spheres. 

2G00. "These conceptions of true natural spirit law can 
hardly be expressed in earth language. 

(Signed) "Den (mi. 

"Faraday." 

Writing No. 3. (132 d.) 

Spirit Life a Continuation of Biding Passions of Earth. 

2601. "Science has its victories and recognitions at the hands 
of a partially enlightened world, but that world fails to perceive 
the outcome of its discoveries through the efforts of the mind to 
grasp the unknown result in bringing it nearer the causative 
principle of all beings. 

2602. "Many times, during my life on earth, I caught faint 
gleams of light that radiated from the realm of the spirit world ; 
but, mistaking the methods of demonstration, I entered this 
world ignorant of most of the forces that govern its inhabitants. 

260.1. "This life is but a continuation of the ruling passions 
of life in the earthly form. 

2601. "This power in the hands of wise and beneficent men, 
is followed by the enlightenment of its recipients, and should 
imbue you with great mental and spiritual power. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

Writing No. 1. (142.) 

2605. "Kind friends, it is here that we must rest our case 
for the present. And it is here we have our hope for the future. 

2606. "We predict that there will be no further revelation 
of the old order. 

2607. "We can put forth powers that as yet are latent, and 
our efforts will not necessarily be futile. 

(Signed) "Fa rati ay." 

Writing No. 5. (173.) 

The Design of These Manuscripts to Demonstrate a Future Life by 
Their Scientific Elaborations. 

2608. "These statements place the question of life and im- 
mortality upon a basis that is capable of demonstration. 

2609. "In this manuscript there are several elaborations of 
ideas given, which clearly reveal the truth of a continuous organic 
existence after the individual is once organized from the elements, 
and that there is not found a reason for the belief that the soul 
of man (as an organic structure) existed previous to the formation 
through chemical process of evolution. 



432 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2610. '"These statements are true, and in publishing them 
it is with hope that they may contribute to the cause of public 
interest upon the greatest of all questions pertaining to humanity. 

(Signed) "Prof. Faraday" 



Writing No. 6. (178.) 

Necessity of Successive Steps in Organic Evolution. 

2611. "Spiritual material is nothing more than earthly ma- 
terial raised to a higher degree of atomic activity. 

2612/ "The condensation of spiritual matter comes from 
chemical forces of the elements in the ethereal and earthly condi- 
tions seeking a final equilibrium in the organisms. 

2613. "The organism cannot respond to all the conditions 
of the elements at once, and direct each element to the place most 
in need. 

2614. "Hence the structure passes through all the varied 
changes of form from the gelatinous mass to the solid body. 

(Signed) "M. Faraday." 

Writing No. 7. (189.) 

Power of Spirit Peturn the Greatest Agent of Intellectual Growth. 

2615. "With this convincing proof of an immortal existence, 
the basis is laid for an intelligent philosophy concerning the con- 
dition of life. 

2616. "This power I regard as the greatest agent in produc- 
ing gigantic intellectual growth in your earth sphere. Spirit force 
is pure force. 

Writing No. 8. . (207.) 

Mental Expression. 

2617. "I wish to state that I regard the mental faculties as 
the highest expression of elementary forces contained in your 
organism through which it manifests itself. 

2618. "There are some in your world that claim the mental 
faculties, or rather the forces expressed through the mental fac- 
ulties, to be direct offspring of divine mind or power that controls 
the universe — as yet I do not concede their claims. 

2619. "Mind, or mental power, so far as it can be analyzed, 
is always expressed through organic forces; aud, while the result 
of mind may be embodied in material expressions, the mental 
originator of this work is always a brainy structure of the human 
species. 

2620. "The present religions of earth will never become 
scientific. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 333 

2621. "The masses of people upon your earth that are upou 
the animal plane cannot understand the processes of thought 
that pertain to intellectual development. While having the form 
of man, the}* have the nature and mind of animals. 

(Signed) "Faraday" 

2622. (See Faraday pamphlets, "Powers of Mental Action.") 
But the time occupied at this writing was 28 seconds by the 
pendulum, showing the rate of 6 words per second. A slow rate 
for this spirit. 

Writing No. 9. (226.) 

Force Measured by Degrees of Motion. 

2623. "If you examine carefully the inner workings of the 
elements that finally result in form, you are struck with the 
absolute nature of the power whereby resultants of a scientific 
character are assured, and upon this basis you are able to meas- 
ure the results. 

2623 J. "In this process you find that force is measured by 
the degrees of motion that form manifests; and that proportionate 
to the mobility of form is the activity of force. 

2624. "Because we can do this on a small scale it is not 
unscientific to infer that, when the mentality reaches a sufficient 
degree of development, you can obtain a knowledge of primi- 
tive forces as now because you have mastered some of these prob- 
lems of subordinate manifestations. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 
Time, 12 seconds; 129 words; rate, 645 words per minute. 
(See paragraph 226.) 

Writing No. 10. (243.) 

Neither Solar Heat nor Light, Direct Sun Rays, but by Chemical Ac- 
tion of Electro-Magnetic Solar Badiation. 

2625. "It is supposed by most persons that the seasons with 
their variable climates and phenomena are inevitable. 

2626. "But, in fact, the seasons are not necessarily owing to 
the revolution and relations of your earth to the sun, nor yet 
altogether upon the nearness or distance of the latter from it. 

2627. "Electricity and magnetism are the causes which 
change temperature, producing sometimes snow in summer. 

2628. "Bear in mind, friends, that the sun is much nearer 
to you in winter than in summer; and yet the former is much the 
coldest season. 

2629. "The sun's influence is more manifested as a control- 
ling power in the grand system of planetary revolution and equi- 
librium than in the production of seasons. 

2630. "The principal source of heat is magnetism, whether 
produced by the sun or the internal laboratories of the earth. 



434 RENDING THE TAIL. 

2631. "Therefore a galvanic battery in an electric tower 
should be employed in dry, tropical climates and upon deserts, 
to assist in condensing in order to aid and augment formation of 
rain in the upper strata of humidity. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

Writing No. 11. (256.) 

The Law of Organic Formation Pertains to Spirit as to Material 
Forms. — Persons Are Spirits in Either State. 

2632. "Chemistry shows that when two elements having a 
different degree of atomic motion come together, there is an at- 
tempt at equilibrium, which, being exactly adjusted, produces a 
new form of matter; and in the spirit realm there is no change 
of law as to this principle. Let it be understood that persons are 
spirits, whether dwelling in either state. 

(Signed) "M. Faraday." 

Writing No. 12. (262.) 

The Spirit an Evolution of Planetary Life, Therefore Cannot he 

Destroyed. — Spirits Continue Their Power of Con- 

secutive Thought. 

2633. "In order, therefore, to obtain a correct idea of the 
effect of spiritual life upon the life of mortals, you must revert 
to this law of electrical interchange that seems to be the great 
agent in molding all forms and grades of life. 

2634. "As you have seen that the spirit is an evolution of 
the planetary life and cannot be destroyed, you also see how nat- 
ural its mental attachments to the planet should bring it in con- 
tact with the mental development generating and generated here. 

2635. "As spirits we have the power of thought and consec- 
utive reasoning as much after our transition from mortal life as 
before; but we lack the power of expression through ordinary 
channels. 

2636. "We have, however, inductive electrical transfer of 
thought; and, coming in contact with a spirit embodied, this 
power of induction excites the elements in the spirit embodied 
to equilibrium of mentality which gives rise to a similarity of 
thought in both. 

2637. "Here lies the foundation of the dogma of inspiration 
—a process of mental action whereby the mind in the body is 
raised to a perception and expression of ideas beyond its own 
range of thought as generated by the physical senses. 

2638. "The rising of the powers has the counterpart in 
bringing forward to the brain increased atomic action, which, in 
turn, calls for more blood to supply the cell-structures, and th> 
next result is the upbuilding of organs that express the various 



RENDING TEE VAIL. 435 

grades of mentality upon the purely spiritual plane of being, and 
man is thus making another stride forward in the domain of 
spiritual evolution. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

Writing No. 13. (295.) 

The Laics of Motion. 

2639. "All the phenomena of motion are derived by deduc- 
tions from the three following laws of motion: 

(a) "Every change of motion produced by any external 
force (b) is proportionate to the force impressed, and in the 
direction of the (c) straight line in which the force acts. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

Writing Xo. 14. (350.) 

Three Perceivable Principles in the Evolution of Form. 

"The general law stated by your worthy lord is wrong. 

2640. "In the progress of lowest matter from the simplest 
elemental state to the most complex organic compound there 
constantly has been (a) increase in the mass, and (b) decrease in 
the stability of the molecules holds good throughout; and to it 
now may be added a third principle, correlated to the above and 
constituting merely a corollary to it: (c) that, with these changes, 
there has been an increase in the activity of the properties 
manifested. 

(Signed) "Faraday" 

Writing Xo. 15. (433.) 

The Two Forces That Build and Disintegrate. — Atoms Discernible in 
an Electric Battery at Work. 

2641. "Out of this relation — relation of the atom in the 
structure — arises another very important connection, that seems 
to hold the form in more or less enduring relation, which you 
term magnetism or electricity. 

2642. "These are the atomic motions of the elements which 
the form is moving at a uniform rate. 

2643. "Electric force keeps the atoms moving. 

2644. "The magnetic would keep them in balance or at rest. 

2645. "Therefore the electric, being the primitive state of 
the atom, keeps the magnetic always on the alert, and between 
the action of the two, elements are built and disintegrated 
through all time and eternity. 

2646. "If you wateh the electric battery at work, you will 
readily see the atoms. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 



436 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Writing No. 16. (457.) 

2G47. "There have been periods of conception as to births; 
and, until the soul of man has passed the period, he cannot have 
knowledge of spirituality of high or even low degree. 

"In man's nature there is no development of spiritual light 
above the plane of feeling during earthly life; but you can feel the 
great waves of pulsating powers that reach you from the world 
eternal. 

"Spiritual knowledge that comes to you by feeling is about 
as high as can be reached in darkness. 

2648. "You see the sun sink beyond the draperies of heaven 
to reappear and illuminate the earth with the brilliancy of light. 

2649. "Dwell no longer in the darkness of past ages. 

(a) "Let the old orders be abandoned forever. 

(b) "We are not the angels of death, but the harbingers of 
life eternal. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 
Time, 20 seconds; 141 words; rate, 423 words per minute, or 
7+ words per second. 

Writing No. 17. (500.) 

Manner of Building Form. 

2650. "The evolution of all material forms comes by adding 
atom to atom in their dimensions. This is a distinct unity of com- 
position existing between all your mental states — it is the positive 
indication of evolution. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

No. 18. (513.) 

Forms, Size, Distance, Number, Relatively Considered. 

2651. "Here you are again forced to take the wing of the 
perceptive faculties as they are presented to you for your assist- 
ance, and leave the environment of earth for a season, while you 
explore the most sublime relations of the universe. 

2652. "Observe, friends, that vast as the bulk of matter may 
seem to you which is existing in visible form in the world, the 
amount of elements so related to the masses not in these rela- 
tions; and I might almost be justified in asserting that all of what 
you call the universe is but a point in comparison with that which 
is far beyond your visible perception. Planets might vanish from 
sight, but the eternal, illimitable realm of space, filled, would 
still exist. 

2653. "Every particle of matter that comes from these realms 
to your planetary form reveals no serious disturbance: for they 
never lose their power, although their functions are transferred 
to cosmic body for brief seasons. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 



RENDING THE VAIL. 437 

Writing No. 19. (560.) 

Electric and Magnetic Forces Controlling Agents of Form. 

2654. "The reader will perceive tbat we have a demonstrable 
evidence of the law of evolution; and the question naturally arises 
as to why life exists if it is not able to hold itself intact in condi- 
tions that are not strictly in order as you perceive them to be 
by the ordinary channels of knowledge. 

2655. "To know these realms is no easy task, for the ele- 
ments here will not obey the laws of visible manifestation except 
through certain forces known as electrical and magnetic states. 

2656. "These forces seem to be the controlling agents of 
form, ancLwhen you study them carefully, you will be astounded 
at the diver si tv of these powers. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

Writing No. 20. (581.) 

Spirits Withdrawn from Sacred Shrines Because the Priesthood has 

Possession. 

2657. "Friends, there are those who cannot understand how a 
spirit can come to earth without being reembodied as in the phys- 
ical life. And there are many who cannot imagine that any life 
can be beyond the cognizance of the physical senses. 

2658. "From the highest of mental insight in the world of 
spirit you can see all that transpires in the temples and sacred 
circles; and, if the spirits have withdrawn from the shrines 
and the oracles are filled with the voices of craft and deception, 
it is because the priesthood has possession of them. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

Writing No. 21. (595.) 

A Mercenary Priesthood Always Held People to Some Idol, as God, 

Even to This Day. 

2659. "As a consequence of ignorance or craft or a combina- 
tion of the two, the world has worshiped at shrines of numberless 
deities, that have kept control, as far as possible, of the mental 
world; and only to a limited degree does the mind of man, even 
yet, conceive of the true nature of spirit or its influences upou 
the earth. 

2660. "In order, therefore, to obtain a correct idea of the 
effects of spiritual life upon your plane of existence, we must 
revert to the law of electrical intercourse; as this seems to be the 
great agent in molding all forms and grades of life-manifestation. 

2661. "As you have seen that spirit is an evolution of life 
and cannot be destroyed, you also see how naturally their mental 
attachments to your planet should bring the mental in contact 
with the mental development here in spirit. 



438 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2CG2. ''Spirits have the power of thought and consecutive 
reasoning as much after transition from mortal life as before; 
but we lack the power of expression through ordinary channels. 

2G63. "We have the power, however, of inductive electrical 
transfer of thought. 

(S igned) ' 'Fa ra da y . ' ' 



Writing No. 22. (630.) 

The Few Minds That Are Even Now out of Idolatrous Darkness Forced 
to Shine in Private Circles Bather than Public. 

2664. "One thing we wish to impress upon your minds — viz. : 
The idea of a spiritual character — they are to be controlling and 
governing powers of the universe. It is scientific and is capable 
of generating and expressing the highest knowledge to earth. 

2665. "In the past ages a few minds arose to great heights, 
but they failed to impress the masses with the meaning of their 
grandest ideas, and the latter became the prey of the witty and 
unscrupulous. It was the misfortune of the race at that time. 

2666. "To-day the most brilliant minds are, to a good extent, 
forced to let their powers shine in the private circles, rather than 
upon the public rostrum. 

(Signed) "Faraday" 

Writing No. 23. (711.) 

All Bodies on Earth of the Same Elements as the Earth. — Hence Rela- 
tions of Spiritual to Earthy. 

2667. "You can see by what is already written that the ele- 
ments, in their obedience to atomic law, construct all forms, and 
that the constructive forces follow the lines of geometrical pro- 
portions all the way. 

2668. "All bodies on the earth are composed of the same 
elements that make the earth, and no organism, however highly 
it may rank in the scale of life, but what testifies to this fact; so 
this is the proper place to study this law. 

2669. "The relations that now exist between our bodies and 
yours, whereby its resistless waves beating upon your shores 
arouse the atoms to a reciprocal action, could not be were not 
there even a proximate relation to touch the earth with the 
strongest electrically and magnetically. We could send our power 
to the sun and stir it to unwonted agitation, but the return could 
hardly disturb her magnetic equilibrium. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 

2670. Here is a velocity in penmanship of 14 3-5 words in 1 
second ; being at the rate of 896 words per minute. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 439 

Writing Xo. 24. (7S7-7SS.) 

Mettle?- Visible in One Form Not so in Another, but Both Transparent 
and Translucent. — Not Unreasonable That Spirit be Invisible. 

2671. "'Matter disappears from your vision, but it reappears 
as palpable to your senses. 

2672. "Matter which in one state or another is perfectly 
opaque and will not permit a ray of light to pass through it will 
in other form — which is spirit — become perfectly transparent. 

2G73. "The cause of this wonderful change in matter is ut- 
terly inexplicable by philosophers. 

2674. "They may say that it is due to some attraction in 
the position or arrangement of atoms or molecules; but atoms and 
molecules, however confident you may be concerning their exist- 
ence and the laws that govern their mutual attractions and repul- 
sions, are absolutely beyond your reach, of senses. You may 
guess at changes they undergo, but cannot see them or do any- 
thing more than surmise what they really are. 

2675. "You do know, however, that matter is indestructible; 
or, at least, that yon have no evidence that it can be destroyed. 

(a) "The substances dissolved in water or burned in air are 
not annihilated or lost; but by certain well-known means they 
can be recalled and restored to sight; some in exactly the same 
state as before their invisibility, others in some other state or 
condition. 

2675 j-. "This is exactly the same with spirits; the laws that 
govern one govern all — and so on, through ages and ages. 

"If there is matter, there must be spirit. 

2676. "This, then, is a well-settled fact that cannot be 
demonstrated in any other way or through any other law of 
chemistry. 

2677. "So, if you declare there is no matter, then you must 
admit there is no existence in the universe. 

2678. "If an existence, then there must be matter: for with- 
out matter there is nothing. 

2679. "So, I have said before, matter must exist, and out 
of matter comes spirit. 

2680. "This may seem a paradox, friends; but, if you under- 
stand my writings, you will see that it is literally true. 

(a) "What, then, are you to conclude as to the relations 
existing between the spirit world and the material world? 

2681. "Briefly, that one is the counterpart of the other; 
and that, of the two, the spirit world deserves the title of the real. 

(Signed) "Prof. Faraday." 



440 RENDING TEE TAIL. 



Writing No. 25. (794.) 

Power of Organization Inherent in Spirit Conditions of Matter. — In- 
herent Powers Never Lost; Therefore Expect Spirit 
Able to Reconstruct a Body. 

2682. ''Upon your visible planet you live and move as nat- 
ural beings. 

"In the spirit world you shall hold your lives for eternity: 
for you have already seen that the power of organization resides 
in the spirit conditions of matter, and that death cannot affect 
us, save to disconnect us from the visible material. 

(a) "All you need for proof of our being identically the same 
would be our reappearance in some connection with visible mat- 
ter, whereby we could act upon your nerves or senses. 

2683. "You say: 'Can they do this?' It would be very 
strange if we could not, since, in other conditions of matter, you 
find that the inherent powers are never lost. 

2684. "If metals or minerals are subject to attractions to 
the earth or to matter in a similar condition to their own state, 
it need not be thought unscientific for spirit material to be at- 
tracted to its own material. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 



Writing No. 26. (802.) 

Concluding Syllogism. 

2685. "Whenever there is a manifestation of human intel- 
ligence, there is evidence of a human being. 

2686. "If this intelligence comes from an invisible source, a 
human being must be behind that intelligence. 

2687. "Therefore such a human being must be dwelling in 
the invisible realms. 

2688. "You know that a human being, to be possessed of 
knowledge, must first have existed, as a person, in the visible 
world. 

2689. "This is to explain by what process it is in the power of 
the spirit world to act directly upon the material world. 

2690. "This leads to the underlying principles of electrical 
action in the elementary condition of matter. 

2691. "Without this study of these principles the world can 
gain no knowledge of a future existence. 

(Signed) "Prof. Faraday" 

Time, 10 seconds; 120 words; rate, 12 words per second. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 441 

Writing No. 27. (800.) 

All Substances Evolved from Matter. — All Laws of Force Concentrated 

in the Atom. — Spirits can Actually See the 

Atom at Work. 

2692. "On the subject of life I will say that all substances, 
including protoplasm, have been evolved from matter. 

2693. "There really exists a potency, or principle, called 
mind, of which the chemical substances manifest. 

2694. "By your self-consciousness you know, with a certainty 
which no doubt can ever disturb, that you have a mind; and by 
rightly applying your reasoning powers you can learn much that 
will be useful to you with regard to your mental processes and the 
methods of applying it. 

2695. "All laws and ideas of force are concentrated in an 
atom. 

2696. "This may strike some as being imaginary; but my 
experience here has shown me the very form and working of 
atoms. I have seen them under their full and wonderful play in 
connection with eternal forces. 

(Signed) "FaradayP 

This is a writing in answer to the question asked on the 16th 
inst., in regard to Edison's opinion of the origin of life, and re- 
ferred by Thomas Paine to Professors Denton and Faraday. (See 
paragraph 2574.) 

Writing No. 28. (890, 891.) 

The Lost Atlantis. 

Concerning which the spirit Prof. Faraday made a writing 
as follows, to-wit: 

2697. "Friends, to-night we are abe to give you the picture 
of Yerma, one of the lost Atlanteans. (Page 442.) 

2698. "We know many on the earth plane say such a con- 
tinent never existed, but those of us in the spirit world who have 
met and held intelligent conversation with a number of the in- 
habitants of this lost continent know it did exist, and know, fur- 
ther, that they were in a higher state of civilization than 
yourselves. 

2699. "They lived in houses of both wood and stone, many 
of their buildings being of the highest achievements in architect- 
ure known. 

2700. "Americans think themselves skilled in the use of 
electricity; but, from what I can learn from the people of Atlantis, 
you know very little indeed, and that little through great waste 
of capital. 



442 RENDING THE TAIL. 




TERM A. fif ? ,v. *. , (889,2697. 

Drawn by Titian, the spirit artist, in seventeen seconds. 

2701. "They say Mother Earth furnishes all the dynamo 
that is necessary to generate enough electricity to run all the 
machinery on earth. 

2702/ "They say scientists will discover this before a quar- 
ter of a century has passed. 

(Signed) "Faraday" 



RENDING THE VAIL. ' 443 

Writing Xo. 29. (1011.) 

Why Different Spirits Report to Us Differently as to X amber of Spheres. 

2703. (a) "There are innumerable spheres in the spirit 
world. If there were not, endless progression would be a myth. 

(b) "Some spirits tell you there are only seven. That is 
because they have no knowledge beyond that sphere. I do not 
mean a place with fixed boundaries: for the spheres or degrees 
in spirit life are only conditions, and are not confined to a limited 
space. As the soul develops it naturally rises above its sur- 
roundings, and consequently experiences a change in its spheres 
or conditions. 

(c) "Spirits regard the misdeeds of mortals in another light 
than they did on earth. The}' are able to discern the cause, and 
know 7 why their friends took this or that course in life, and regard 
them with sympathy and charity, and endeavor to keep them 
raised above the evils of their earth life. The surroundings of a 
spirit are such as would be in harmony with the spirit itself. 

(d) "The environments of Nature do not cause a man to be 
either virtuous or brutal. It is true that a man's environments 
often help to cultivate that which is low and brutal ; but you 
often see cases of brutality among the most harmonious sur- 
roundings, and virtue among low people. 

(e) "Your thoughts and aspirations attract to you the kind of 
spirits that would be most congenial. And these spirits, whether 
good or bad, will help to further your plans. 

(Signed) "Faraday." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Writings and Trumpet Orations of Father Kin//. 

2704. The picture on page 444 is a good likeness of the appa- 
rition as it appeared to the circle, when writing or talking. His 
talking was both oral and by trumpet. He claims to have ex 
isted on the earth twenty thousand years ago. The apparition, 
however, was always in full form, while the portrait is only bust. 
This apparition wrote at the rate of 8 to 10 words per second. His 
oral speech was loud, distinct, and rather slow of delivery. His 
trumpet speech was at all times wonderfully voluminous. 

2705. This spirit claims: 

(a) That there was once a continent south of Africa, per- 
haps about as now claimed for the supposed Lamura. 

(b) That some twenty thousand years ago such continent was 
inhabited by a people whose language was similar to the English 
language of to-day. 



444 RENDING THE VAIL. 




FATHER KING, 
The Ancient of Days. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 445 

(c) That this spirit is a native, and was a ruler, at one time, 
of those people. 

(d) That Atlantis was also peopled by inhabitants who used 
the same tongue, and that the inhabitants of both Larnura and 
Atlantis were highly civilized and far advanced in science, and 
well versed in electrical mechanics. 

(e) That for the last several thousand years this spirit has 
had more or less to do with the various" spiritual dispensations 
or avatars. 

(/) That heretofore every attempt made by the spirit world 
to present the facts of future life to man on earth has been 
aborted, by mercenary incentives of men, into a descent of some 
God to a chosen few, who alone were authorized to stand between 
such God and the people. 

Much that this spirit said and did at these seances the reader 
will find retained in the seance accounts. 

The reader will do well to closely notice the portrait and 
thereby have an idea of the appearance of Father King. 



Writing No. 1. (Ill g.) 

The Truth of Spirit Return Is for All, Regardless of Religious Training. 

2706. "Here you have the convincing testimony that we can 
come back and manifest our presence to you, children of earth, in 
various ways. 

2707. "This Divine Light is sent to the poor and lowly with- 
out reference to their religious training. 

2708. "You may expect to receive the impulse of a spiritual 
life and knowledge of the process whereby each one can climb 
toward perfection, which we have acquired during all these years. 

2709 "We are striving to impart this knowledge with willing 
hearts and hands. 

2710. "Welcome the day when the world shall realize that 
immortality is the destiny of pure spirituality — the heritage of 
every man. 

2711. "This is no longer a question of concealment of Spir- 
itualism; but these increasing influences are to be made the basis 
of the world's future instructions. 

2712. "We are opening the doors of spiritual life as was 
never imagined bv wisest man. 

(Signed) "Father King." 

Writing No. 2. (126.) 

Wonderful Results in Electrical Appliances Near at Hand. 

2713. "The day is not far distant when the world shall have 
a new revelation in the way of electric discoveries which shall 

29 



446 RENDING THE VAIL. 

prove far more beneficial than did Benjamin Franklin's kite 
experiment. 

2714. "Transportation shall be simplified and more complete 
through the utilization of the electric currents. 

2715. "New inventions will bring to light powers which are 
in the earth, that the world dreams not of. 

2716. "It is to be brought out through a sensitive: for all 
inventions come from spirit life. 

(Signed) "Father King" 



Writing No. 3. (128.) 

Geologic and Peat Formations. 

2717. (Question 4.) "Both plants and animals contribute 
material towards new geological formations. 

2718. "Not only oil and gas, but all other substances of sub- 
terranean nature. 

2718. "In some localities there are accumulations of marshy 
vegetation, such as peat marsh — sometimes to a depth of forty 
feet or more; which, growing as a spongy, fibrous mass over wet 
ground, lie in their lower parts and send out new fibers above. 
It is this lower decaying stratum which forms peat. 

2719. "Plants aid in the general process of decomposition in 
various ways: 

(a) "By keeping the surface of the rock moist, and thus pro- 
moting both the mechanical and chemical distribution of the rock; 

(b) "By producing, through the decay of the plants, carbonic 
and other acids; which, with the decaying organic matter, taken 
up by passing moisture, become potent in effecting the chemical 
decompostion of rocks and in promoting the disintegration of 
soils. 

2720. "Thus forming coal, gas, oil, and thousands of other 
things. 

(Signed) "Father KingP 



Writing No. 4. (129.) 

Marts Being Came out of the Rocks by Evolution. 

2721. (Question 8.) "Yes, man has evolved from the lower 
forms of life. 

2722. "His being began in the rocks. 

2723. "We in spirit life can see the whole process. 

2724. "It is grand, wonderful, and the most beautiful work 
of Nature. 

(a) "Had I strength and time, I would tell you the modus 
operandi, or a part of it. 



REXDIXG THE VAIL. 447 

(b) "There are some tilings earth people could not compre- 
hend, should we make an explanation, any more than the A B C 
scholar could comprehend the rules of algebra. 

(Signed) "Father King" 

Writing No. 5. (141.) 

Intelligence Is a Force. 

2725. ''Friends, the planet upon which 3*011 live is a concrete 
expression of forces. 

272G. "We can trace its origin to the realm of eternal prin- 
ciples acting through definite, absolute laws. And as we rise in 
the scale of growth the power to manipulate the elements 
increases. 

2727. "This proves, if it prove anything, that intelligence is 
a force, and must not be discounted in advance, but recognized as 
a prime factor in the world. 

(Signed) "Father King." 

Writing No. 7. (170.) 

Government. 

2728. (a) "Yes, government has always existed among the 
people. 

(b) "With the spread of intelligence amongst the masses 
they became dissatisfied, desiring a voice in the general govern- 
ment themselves. 

(c) "We have a government here, but not as yours. 

(d) "Your laws for the collection of debts should be abol- 
ished, and only a written contract should be made binding. 

(e) "This is the way your government should stand. 

(f) "Your greatest defect is fraud in office. That is the 
first to which you should apply the ax. 

(g) "Your impeachment laws should be abolished, and your 
investigating committees disbanded." 

Writing No. 8. (188 a.) 

Tie Hollow Globe Theory. 

2729. "Yes, your idea of a hollow globe is correct; but not 
in the sense you term it. You are living in the center of the 
earth, in one sense. 

"If you could only comprehend the depth in space of your 
planet, I could make mv explanation more explicit. OPEyo> 
[I might continue], but I have given enough to show that such 
exists. " 

In answer to a discussion in the circle as to the subsistence 
of people of great antiquity, the writing continued: 



448 READING THE VAIL. 

2730. "Ten thousand years ago we raised wheat and wool 
and spun and wove as you do, except that you have added some 
mechanical conveniences to produce the same results. Your met- 
als are ours. 

(Signed) "Father Kinq-P 

Writing No. 9. (209.) 

Madame Blavaisky. 

2731. "Yes, we hold communion with each other in a more 
sublimated element. 

2732. "Our thoughts are speech in our sphere. 

2733. "So when one is positive and the other negative, a cir- 
cuit is established over which our thoughts predominate. 

2734. "The belts are revolving electrical currents. 

2735. "We pass through those belts in reaching Jupiter; 
and also your earth; but your earth is not so dense as Jupiter/' 

2736. (This spirit has since supplied the evident ellipses to 
read: "and also the belts of your earth, which it has; but the 
belts of your earth are not so dense as those of Jupiter.") 

2737. "She [Madame Blavatsky] is aided by us spirits to 
perform the work she is engaged in. 

2738. "Yes, we are teaching the medium's spirit during 
materializations. 

(Signed) "Father King!" 

Writing No. 10. (244.) 

~\Miat the Milky ^Yay Is. — Body of the Sun Dark. — Sun Spots Open- 
ings in Sun's Atmosphere. 

2739. "There is a charm in this world of spirit, which will 
never be lost. It is associated with all that is great and true. 

2740. "The Milky Way is found to consist entirely of stars 
scattered by millions. They are like glittering dust on the back- 
ground of the heavens. 

2741. "The sun is a dark body enveloped in an atmosphere. 

2742. "The spots in the sun are produced by slight breaks 
or openings in that atmosphere, showing the dark mass within. 

2743. "There are minor planets or asteroids that no mortal 
has ever discovered. 

(Signed) "Father King:' 

Writing No. 11. (558.) 

Inner Consciousness. 

2744. "Friends, the time has arrived to assert the dignity 
and prominence of inner consciousness — above and beyond all 
the philosophy of the wisest — the unfathomable — this is a thing 
which forces itself upon you and compels recognition. 



RENDING THE TAIL. 449 

2745. "Although the philosoper, the metaphysician, and the 
psychologist fail to analyze this, they fail to find the government. 
Here it is an actual necessary existence, and all you know of 
this: that it is, and is capable of being cultivated, as it is differ- 
ent by its manifestations in different persons. This commends 
to you the truth, the right: 

2746. "Cultivate your inner consciousness; make it your 
selfish law, and you can do no better in life for yourself, than 
listen to and obey its voice. 

2747. The spirit Father King we sometimes designate 
"the ancient of days" for the reason that he claims to have lived 
upon this earth twenty thousand years ago. He claims to be the 
same spirit of "Coon's Rooms" fame. 

2748. His intelligence, at times manifested, was beyond the 
intellectual ability of our medium and the whole circle combined. 
Much of his intellectuality is left in the record of the seances for 
the reason that it was in dialogue form, and often but small 
amount at the seance. 

Oration No. 1. 

2749. Through the trumpet, loud enough to have been 
heard by an audience filling the largest auditorium in this or 
any land, or even from Sinai's mount over the whole camp of 
Israel, to-wit: (2339.) 

2750. "I am glad to meet you all here this evening. I sup- 
pose you all know a little more about me now from what Prof 
Denton has been saying. He 's a small man, but a mighty spirit. 
He is a noble soul. 

2751. "I am from another planet. I am the very Gabriel of 
whom you have heard. This is Gabriel's trumpet you now hear 
sounding. Gabriel talked to the people and helped them along. 
The prophets of a former Gabrielic age heard the voice of the 
trumpet sounding long and loud as you hear it now. I was not 
only of the Gabrielic band of spirits familiar to the Jewish pro- 
phetic age, but I was with those people you call Luke and John 
and Paul, and all the others of them." 

(See Matt. xxiv. 31: "And he shall send his angels with 
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his 
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." 

2752. "Gabriel now is blowing away the old and blowing in 
the new. Environments of the olden time are fading away. One 
glorious endless day begins to dawn upon the human perception." 



Oration No. 2. (423.) 

2753. Father King again came out of the cabinet, took the 
trumpet, and through it, in almost deafening tones of speech, said : 



450 RENDING THE VAIL. 

2754. ''Good-evening, friends. 

This is Gabriel's trumpet sounding in the morning. 
Again on earth to give you warning 

Of the coming of the brighter day 
When in peace all people dwell 
And lift each other uut of hell. 
But this is Gabriel in the morning, 
In the very early morning, 

Of the dawn of the better way. 

2755. "Time has no end, and space has no end nor limit. 
2750. "Space is all organized, all inhabited — inhabited by 

atoms. 

2757. "There is no space where the atom is not. 

2758. ''Life is inherent in, and emanates from, the atom, as 
the good Brother Denton has told vou. 



Trumpet Blast No. 3. (612.) 

2759. Just before the seance began, the circle had been dis- 
cussing the attitude of Talmage toward Spiritualism. The "an- 
cient of days,'' taking up the trumpet and with its "voice long 
and loud," continued the comments : 

2760. "Good-evening, friends. You ask where have I been 
this long time? 

(a) "I 've been here — to the planets, to that 'undiscovered 
country whence no traveler returns' — you know. 'To be, or not to 
be' — that 's it. 

2761. "They are all liars, hypocrites, thieves! They '11 all go 
to that place they 've got fixed up for you. 

2762. "That 'great I am,' De Witt, has a great place fixed up 
for himself, but he '11 never get to that heaven. We '11 warm his 
priestly robes for him when he gets over here. 

2763. "We '11 show him those dungeons that liars, hypo- 
crites, and blasphemers, and robbers of widows' houses have 
builded for themselves. 

2761. ''He has deceit all through his cranium. He was born 
with it. He has it three times a day and all night. He '11 die 
with it. 

2705. "Here, he will find himself in that ditch, and hear 
those around him saying: 'Behold our blind guide! Lie down 
here as corduroy for us to get out over from where you have 
led us!' 

2766. "And if this 'high priest' should ever get out of the 
ditch, he '11 have to climb out by the smoke of his torment. No 
Joshua will be there to lead him out." 



REXDIXG THE TAIL. 



451 



CHAPTER X. 



Writings of A. Wesley Aber. 

Manuscript No. 1. (792.) 

In Spirit Life One Soon Learns That His Own Desires do Not Baffle 

the Inevitable. — Spiritualism a Great Purifying Agent, 

Pointing Hope toward the Great Sunrise. 

2770. "In the realms of spirit 
man does not accept the inev- 
itable as he does in nature 
around him: for he rises from 
the physical tempest to meet 
the difficulties or joys that the 
day brings. 

"Then he sees Nature or 
these forces around are not to 
be governed by his desires, and 
he cannot baffle the great in- 
evitable. 

2771. "There are few that 
have chased away the shadows 
of death and error from their 
individual lives; and why not 
cast this shadow away from 
the world? 

2771J. "It is true that these 
storms sweep away the mist 
and leave the glittering doors of life open, making the spirit 
ready to rise to meet this spiritual truth. 

2772. "Spiritualism is the greatest among all the purifying 
agents. It has swept into and through thousands of lives, taking 
them from the old-line conditions, from the religious thoughts 
that enthralled them in mind and body, taking them from the 
passions, appetites, and propensities that enslave; and lias, at 
last, set them clear on the pathway that leads toward the heights 
of the true dawn. What is all this doing for the world? Surely 
there is reason to hope that in the midst of all Ibis the way of 
light is clearing — sure advance of the day that is no longer dim 
to many hundreds and thousands of eyes — they may show you 
the way to where the sun is rising, to where the wonderful glory 
of Spiritualism shall illuminate 1 vour earth." 

(Signed) ".I. W. Aber." 















^E 








t M k . 




' 


^ f:'?': 








1 



27R7 



A. WESLEY ABER. 



452 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Manuscript No. 2. (800) 

Hypnotic Power Latent in All Persons. — Design of Spirits to Make 
This Record a Digest of Psychics. 

2773. "Kind and worthy friends, with a feeling of deep 
gratitude, I now perceive that you have been the medium's true 
friends. 

2774. "There is a power that pervades all animated nature, 
by some termed spirit. This power is not the same in all beings, 
especially among men. In some it is weak; in others it is very 
strong. 

2775. "Some who possess this power in an extraordinary 
degree are capable of acting upon their weaker fellow-beings, pro- 
ducing good or evil effects as their dispositions direct them to act. 

2776. "This power lies latent within every being, and gener- 
ally requires some external power to arouse it; but, when brought 
into action, it will continue in force during your life. This is to 
those who know not their nature. 

2777. "Our intent is to furnish you with all the material 
facts in this work; therefore we will not leave it to your own 
taste, skill, and learning to make any addition, but to produce a 
united and comprehensive true digest, such as will be easy of 
comprehension and desirable to the people. 

2778. "When we shall have accomplished this task, you will 
then issue it to the world, calling upon them to read it, that they 
may no longer live in error and misconception of the truths 
herein stated. 

2779. "The clergy, after reading this revelation, will no 
longer, I hope, have a just excuse in maintaining a system of bane- 
ful doctrines, which we expose and denounce as The Vileness. 

(Signed) "A. W. Aber" 

Writing No. 3. (810.) 

The Temple of Spiritualism Builded upon Demonstrated Facts. — This 
Great Gospel will Gladden the World. 

2780. "We see, in your world, that the most learned and 
moral portion of mankind are losing faith in the old religions; 
and hence will soon be ripe for something better. What is bet- 
ter? Spiritualism. 

2781. "Then rejoice, friends, that the day is coming that a 
gospel of spirituality, of joy, is approaching. 

2782. "You build, on demonstrated facts, a broader and 
higher science, including the basic principles, and the finest and 
richest elements of all religions and sciences. 

2783. "This removes superstition, the fear of death, the 
tendency to insanity, and the terrors of theology, with all its 
devils and hells. 



REND IX G THE VAIL. 453 

2781. iC We build up the physical as well as the mental ami 
moral. 

2785. ''Man begins to think and act for himself, and to rest 
on great and everlasting principles, instead of [the opinions of J 
men [who lived in the dark ages] ; while at that time the mass 
of the people were densely ignorant — more like pigs, which fol- 
low each other, in trail of some personal leader. 

(Signed) "A. W. Abe,:" 

Writing No. 4. (883.) 

A Definition of Spiritualism. 

27S6. "'What is Spiritualism?' is a question frequently 
asked by inquiring minds. 

2787. "Spiritualists believe that, after man's body has 
passed through the so-called change of death, and you have care- 
fully laid away all that was mortal of your loved ones, such 
departed ones, by means of certain natural laws and conditions, 
can and do return to those left on the earth side of life. 

2788. ''Spiritualists not only believe this, but have proof 
that the soul of man — or, rather, that man has conscious individ- 
ualized existence beyond the tomb, and that through obedience 
of natural law it is possible for him to stand face to face with 
those still in the body. 

2789. ''Spiritualism has proven that death is only an inci- 
dent in the chain of an endless existence. It is the flood of 
glorious sunlight that has illumined the world and driven away 
all of the shadows of death's dark night, draws aside the filmy 
vail between the mortal and the immortal worlds, and all who 
choose to look may gaze in rapture at the beautiful visions of 
spirit existence. 

2790. "It is demonstrating what theology has been teaching 
for you, and is opening to all the highway of eternal progression. 

2791. "It is teaching the world that each soul must be its 
own savior, and only through its own efforts can it ever reach 
perfection. 

2792. "That only by cultivating all that is good and pure 
within, and by 'doing unto others as ye would be done by.' can 
you ever hope to win the highest and best. 

2794. "It teaches the God principle within every human 
soul to look upward for truth's brightest jewels, and not grovel 
in the dust at its feet. 

(Signed) "Wesley Aler." 

Writing No. 5. (903.) 

All Sacred ^Yriiings Point out Advantages of Communion with 

Good Spirits. 

2795. "The sacred writings of every nation under the sun 
caution against believing what a spirit says simply because it 



454 RENDING THE VAIL. 

is a spirit; and they all, with equal force, point out the advan- 
tages of intercourse with good spirits, and nowhere in any of 
them, either Hebrew, pagan, or Christian, do you find a word of 
condemnation, or a command given, adverse to holding converse 
with spirits that are pure in character and thought. 

2796. "It seems to me, then, that man is justified by the 
highest inspired authority of every system of religion of which 
you have any knowledge, in his endeavors to put aside the vail 
which separates him from the spirit world, that he may see his 
friends over here and talk with them face to face. But he must 
not go outside of the Church. 

2797. "We know, friends, it is said that a great deal of 
good may come of intercourse with spirits, whatever their char- 
acter may have been in earth life. 

2798. "But if an evil spirit comes, no good whatever can 
be expected of association with them, and all such should be 
requested away the moment they are seen or their presence felt. 

2799. "It will be asked, 'How shall it be known whether the 
manifestation is by a good or evil spirit?' 

2800. "The physical, mental, moral, and social status of a 
man or woman may be known, generally, by the company he or 
she keeps; and the character of his or her spirit associates may 
be measured by the same rule. 

(a) "It is often that a man, on the earthly plane, may see 
and feel that his associates are not just what they should be, 
having a desire, however, to do better, but lacks the force of 
character to cut loose from them and be better. 

(b) "Such a man's spirit associates are, from desire, exactly 
on a plane with the conduct of his life. 

(Signed) "Wesley Aber." 



Writing No. 6. (901.) 

Diogenes and His Honest Man. 

2801. (a) "A man may not steal from his fellow-man, and 
may pay all of his debts, and still not be an honest man. 

(&) * "The law of compensation decrees that we cannot de- 
ceive our fellow-beings and be honest. 

(c) "There are thousands of men who pretend to believe in 
a religion they in their mind abhor and ridicule. Such men may, 
seemingly, be very honest. 

(d) "There are many thieves who have never been arraigned 
before any court for stealing, yet they have stolen from their 
fellow-men that which is worth more than gold or precious 
jewels — their £Ood name. But there is a bar of justice before 
which they will be arraigned, and the judge will be their own 
conscience. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 455 

(e) ''This judge will see through all their flimsy arguments; 
and will mete out a correct sentence. 

2802. "Nature intends that men shall be honest, but the 
so-called civilized nations are educating men to be dishonest. 
From their earliest childhood they are taught not to say what 
they think, as that would not be policy, and might ruin their 
prospects in life; but they can take every cent of money that the 
law will allow them to take from their friends, and — that is 
honest. 

2803. "To be honest you must be true to yourselves and 
those around you. 

2804. "When that eccentric philosopher, Diogenes, was go- 
ing about the streets in the daytime with a lighted lantern and 
was accosted by inquisitive people, he told them that he was 
searching for an honest man; he took this way of calling the at- 
tention ofthe public to the idea of an honest man. And he doubt- 
less was the means of causing many to reflect. 

2805. "Friends, commence to be honest on earth: for, when 
you pass to spirit life, you must be honest, for all those around 
can read your thoughts. You can hide nothing from your asso- 
ciates then. 

(Signed) "Wesley." 

Writing No. 7. (981.) 

All Things are Unfolded and into Form from the Spiritual. — The 

Mechanic First Sees His Ideal in the Spirit, 

Then Forms It. 

2806. "Friends, the strength and power that has builded 
the atoms into the solid rock grows the forest, trembles the 
breeze, and sways the vines that are a prophecy of a Life that 
is to come! For the budding leaf upon the tree, as it flutters 
in the breeze, has but to furl a higher touch of the spiritual 
element to give it motion, and it is brought forth a full-grown 
leaf. The swinging vines, whose long tendrils clasp the branches 
of the forest, are but the products of Nature. 

2807. "Slowly and steadily the spiritual rays begin to act 
from the spiritual spheres within, and thence the first dawning 
recognition of another life. 

2808. "Then comes another effort on the spirit's part to 
enter into the life and interchange the positive and negative 
forces and bring forth a higher element, such as you see now. 
It also brings forth the flowers, the fruit, and the grain, to yield 
its substance for the maintenance of life. 

2809. "There is a germ implanted within every human soul. 
That germ is the spiritual. It is the element you see in activity. 
Even in the highest forces of your earth, they are molded by 
the power of spirit into forms and shapes of beauty. 



456 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

2810. "Let nie prove this to you by a comparison with the 
activities that take place in your daily lives. Ask the inventor 
how he forms the model, and he will tell you that in the finer 
element of his mind he saw the pictured possibility standing be- 
fore him in its spiritual shape. This is the same with an artist : 
He sees before him the spiritual ideal. 

2811. ''Enter into the mechanical arts, and you will find 
that the architect draws his plans from his spiritual ideas. 

(Signed) "Wesley.* 9 

Writing No. 8. (1019.) 

Progression the Law; No Retrogression. — Spirit World the Real; 

Earth the Unreal. 

2812. "Man never ceases to progress both spiritually and 
mentally, though there are periods when progression is slow; but 
it is continually going on — there is no retrogression in Nature; 
and by degrees attains to the highest. 

2813. "Man progresses more rapidly mentally after he has 
thrown off the mortal body, for he then gives no thought to food, 
raiment, or shelter for the physical body. He can pursue any 
study he takes up, uninterrupted by petty cares of life, for his 
spirit instinctively absorbs all that is needful for its existence. 

2814. "To some this may seem strange; but, friends, the 
spirit world is the real world, and your world is the unreal. The 
spirit world never decays or dies, while your world is steadily 
passing away. 

2815. "As soon as the life germ is created, man begins to 
progress. At first it is a feeble flame; but, by careful attention, 
it increases to a conflagration that warms and lights the whole 
frame. 

(Signed) "Wesley." 

Writing No. 9, (1070.) 

Philosophy of Rain and Snow. 

2816. To question 30, "Is it not chemical action that forms 
and re-forms water?" Wesley wrote thus: 

(a) "Certainly. The forming and re-forming of the rain- 
drops is a chemical action. The vapor rising from the earth and 
large bodies of water is carried upward by the currents of air. 

(b) "Hot air always rises and cold air drops. When the 
vapor remains in a warm current of air, it keeps the form of 
vapor and appears to you as a cloud. 

(c) "As soon as this cloud comes in contact with a colder 
current of air, it becomes condensed and falls in the form of rain. 
Should it come in contact with an extreme cold current, the 



RENDING THE VAIL. 457 

drops of water crystallize and descend in the form of snow or 
sleet. 

(d) "Snow crystals placed under a microscope are very 
beautiful. 

2817. "Everything you can name or mention in the universe 
is caused by chemical action. Some are more thoroughly under- 
stood by earth scientists than others. 

2818. "Nature paints all of your beautiful flowers through 
chemical law. She not only gathers from the mineral in the 
earth, but, reaching out into the vast atmosphere, she receives 
some of her most beautiful tints. 

(a) "The leaves of autumn, in all their varied coloring, are 
caused from the chemical action of frost on the vegetable chem- 
icals in the leaves; the colors varying according to the different 
degree of chemicals in each. 

2819. "There are no mysteries in Nature. Man has but to 
have the patience to investigate closely and he will learn that 
Nature's most glorious work is the simple combination of differ- 
ent chemicals. 

2820. "Lightning is caused by different gases in the air ig- 
nited by electric current. 

2821. "Cyclones are electrical disturbances in the atmos- 
phere, whence their wonderful force. 

(Signed) "Wesley." 

Writing No. 10. (1085.) 

Organization. 

2822. "As everything on the earth plane tends towards the 
consolidation of interests, both in church and state affairs, so it 
is in the spirit world. 

2823. "All spirits interested in the progress and enlighten- 
ment of the human race have banded together, knowing that in 
union there is strength. There are, of course, many different 
bands, but all are working for the same end; and we appreciate 
the steps taken by those on the earth plane who are underesti- 
mated in the same line of work, for we know — not only by ex- 
perience we gained in the body, but since we have passed through 
the great change — that the most effectual work among earth's 
children can only be accomplished by a perfect organization. 

2824. "Spiritualists should lose no time in banding them- 
selves for the promulgation of their beautiful religion. 

2825. "If those on the earth plane will lend us their aid, 
we can bring to all the evidence that man is an immortal being, 
and that his physical death is but an incident in the chain of 
endless existence. 

(a) "If our co-workers on earth will break the sod, we will 
scatter the seeds of truth and light freely, that all mankind may 
reap the harvest. Now is the time. Be up and doing. 



458 RENDING THE YAIL. 

[b) Band yourselves together so firmly that adverse legisla- 
tion will be out of the question. Lay aside all personal feeling 
of an unkind nature and put your shoulder to the wheel of prog- 
ress, and witness the wonderful results that can be accomplished 
by even a few working unitedly. Ere it is possible for you to 
proclaim the good tidings to all the world, you must become har- 
moniously blended into one large army that shall wage war on 
ignorance and wrong. Let each one do his duty and the task 
will not be a difficult one. 

(c) ''Unfurl the flag of truth: for that alone will make hu- 
manity free. 

(Signed) "Wesley." 

Writing No. 11. (1090.) 

Means of Intellectual Growth in Spirit Very Much the Same as on 
Earth, Except in Spirit the Facilities are Better. 

2826. "In the spirit world, as in your world, are numerous 
libraries. 

2827. "There men and women grow, intellectually, very 
rapidly. 

2828. "There only that which is true is accepted. 

2829. "Many books are composed and written in the spirit 
spheres; and then the authors endeavor to impress their words 
of wisdom upon the brain of some sensitive upon the earth 
sphere; but, as a usual thing, his thoughts are so distorted and 
colored by the brain they pass through that he can scarcely see 
any resemblance to the original. 

2830. "The higher spirits are endeavoring to establish a 
more perfect means of communication between the seen and 
unseen. 

(a) "It may be years before we are able to advance in this 
line of work. 

(b) "The light of truth shines through the night, in the dark 
cloud of ignorance, and cheers the weary earth student on. It 
inspires him to make greater efforts than he has hitherto. 

2831. "May its light so shine that he will be able to read 
their thoughts clearly, and give to the less fortunate the benefit 
of the superior wisdom, that they may climb another round on the 
ladder of eternal progression, teaching them that the earth life 
is where they begin to live out eternity; and, understanding this, 
they may be able to so live that they will be an example of wis- 
dom to all thev come in contact with. 

(Signed) "Wesley." 

Oration No. 12. (1095.) 

TT T % Such Diversity among Men as to Intellectual Development? 
Wesley answered through the trumpet, saying: 

2832. * "That is an important question; but, having been fully 



RENDING THE TAIL. 459 

discussed by others heretofore, I need say but little at this time 
touching this matter. 

2832J. "It is true that minds differ very little in essence; 
yet, having to manifest through a brain channel, must manifest 
as that brain structure will permit. 

"It is true that the mind builds its own brain, but must do 
so according as conditions will permit. 

2833. "Seeing that no two brains are constructed under ex- 
actly like conditions, therefore we should expect no two brains 
exactly alike in structure. 

2884. "As some brains are constructed under widely differ- 
ent conditions or environments from those under which other 
brains are constructed. 

2835. "We therefore have manifestation of individual dis- 
position of one person widely different from that of another. 

2836. "It is a universal law of Nature to move all her parts 
toward perfection, which is the law of evolution. 

2837. "Every mental manifestation is also Nature efforting 
to make nearer perfect the manifesting instrument. 

2838. "We should expect the same brain to be constructed 
in its different parts so as to permit some mental functions more 
strongly expressed than others in the same individual. 

2839. "Thus, you may see that every mental function ex- 
pressed must be according to immutable law. 

2840. "And we should also expect every grade of disposi- 
tion to manifest. 

2841. "And further, that whatever seeming lack of power 
to perfect manifestation will be worked up, ultimately, to Nat- 
ure's highest standard of perfection.'' 



Writing No. 13. (1096.) 

Dreams. 

2842. "Dreams, when they are not caused by a disordered 
stomach, are, more or less, an imperfect recollection of what your 
spirit sees while the body is in repose. 

2843. "The brain cells are like the waxen cylinder of a 
phonograph. 

(a) "They receive and return every impression that is mad* 1 
on them. 

(b) "Often, when the subject is in sleep, the spirit is able, 
as it were, to turn cylinders that contain the story of your whole 
life, and in this way receive it all; and to the subject these seem 
as dreams. 

2844. "Then, again, dreams or visions are caused from the 
efforts of some spirit out of the body trying to warn the spirit 
in the body of some coming event; and some mortals are guided 



460 RENDING THE TAIL. 

and controlled by the impressions they receive during the hours 
of repose. 

2845. "The impressions of good or bad depend largely upon 
the spirit operator. 

{a) "If the spirit is from a high sphere, he will only bring 
good impressions. 

(b) "There are times when they find it impossible to warn 
you of a coming danger through a peaceful dream. They then 
resort to more extreme measures, and the result will be a horrible 
dream, that you cannot shake off or get rid of in any way. 

(c) "We are able to save thousands of lives every year, as 
you count time on the earth, in this way. 

2846. "Many mediums get their first start in their develop- 
ment in their dreams, when they are too positive for their spirit 
guides or friends to impress them; and therefore they must wait 
until thev become passive. 

(Signed) "Wesley." 

Writing No. 14. (1101.) 

Advantages in Transition of Previous Knowledge of Spiritualism. 

2847. (a) "Friends, it will be twenty-two years, the coming 
month, since I passed to spirit life. 

(b) "I thought I knew a great deal about Spiritualism; but 
I soon found that I knew little or nothing of the grand truths 
of spirit communion. 

(t) "I have visited and still visit the members of my family 
who understand the laws of communing with the so-called dead. 

(d) "I have tried to help humanity all that was in my power : 
for I realized when on the earth that the saddest time for men is 
when they stand by the open graves of their loved ones and hear 
the clods of earth fall on the coffin-lid with a dull thud. It is 
then that their hearts yearn to know if immortality is a fact. 
Oh, how they long to clasp the limp hand again in their own, 
and hear loved voices telling them all is well; that they have 
awakened in a brighter, happier world, where death will never 
reach them again. 

2848. "I left my body with a feeling of happiness, and found 
my father and the other spirits that had been waiting for the 
release of my spirit from its body. 

(a) "They led the way, and we journeyed on and on, but 
made occasional stops for me to rest. I did not go to my own 
spirit home at first, but was taken to that of my father. 

(b) "I stayed there until I grew stronger. 

(c) "Then I was guided back to my loved ones on earth, and 
was very unhappy in seeing them suffer so much. 

(d) "But as I began to understand the meaning of eternity 
I knew their lives on earth would be short under the most favor 
able circumstances. 



RENDING THE VAIL. 461 

(e) "And ever since then I have been aiding other spirits, 
as well as myself, to reach the friends on earth. 

if) "Year after year the light grows brighter; and ere long 
the mists will be dispelled and man will realize that death is only 
a step higher, and will be better prepared to take the leap. 

(Signed) "Wesley.'' 



Writing No. 15. (1216.) 

Tangibility of Thoughts. 

2849. As dictated to spirit Wesley Aber by scientific con- 
trols Eeed and Denton: 

2850. "People who are delving in Nature's mysteries are 
asking each other if thought has the power to travel from one 
place to another? They are experimenting and finding that such 
is the fact. 

2851. "They have already begun to photograph the thoughts 
of persons; yet these same people, many of them, would scorn the 
idea that a spirit out of the bod;y has a multifold power of trans- 
ferring his thoughts to others; not only to those in the same 
sphere as himself, but also to those still in the physical body. 

2852. "We do not express ourselves in words, in the spirit 
life; we merely think, and our companions read our thoughts. 

2853. "It is, of course, less difficult for those who are in har- 
mony with each other to communicate. 

2854. "Death strips you of the garb of hypocrisy, and you 
stand forth in the world of spirit for what you really are, and 
you will lose no time in hunting up congenial companions. 

(a) "Some worry for fear they may have to associate with 
people of their acquaintance they are not in harmony with. 

(b) "Friends, lose no time in worry of this kind, for only 
those who are spiritually adapted to each other will be together, 
and the closeness of your earth relationship will not alter the 
fact. 

2855. "In spirit life we have no man-made laws; therefore 
each does what is best suited to his nature. 

2850. "The spirit world is no vale of misty shadows, but is 
as tangible to those who dwell there as your earth is to you; and 
attune your ears to sw r eet sound, you can hear the footfalls on the 
boundaries of the other life. 

2857. "Lift the vail gently, and you will catch a glimpse of 
the faces you once loved so fondly, who are waiting in a happier 
home for your coming. 

2858. "But, should yon rudely snatch away the vail, all has 
vanished, and you are like a child that has been gazing at its 
reflection in a tub of water and cries because when he attempts 
to pat the reflected face it all disappears." 

— -30 



462 RENDING THE VAIL. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Transitions. 

2859. Full-form visible materialization writings of different 
spirits, giving their experiences at and immediately after parting 
of soul and body. 

2860. The reader will observe that each spirit has an ex- 
perience in transition peculiar to himself, and a marked individ- 
uality in each of the different writings. 

Transition No. 1. (903^.) 

Dr. Chilesivorth. (795.) 

2861. Our circle know nothing of this spirit farther than 
some of us remember that one Dr. Chilesworth was at some of 
our seances some seven years ago. But a materialization claim- 
ing such personality gives this writing: 

2862. "Friends, if I am not intruding, I would like to tell 
of my transition into the spirit world. 

"The last sensation I can remember was as if I was falling; 
but I seemed to have no fear, and could hear gentle voices call- 
ing me to hasten. Some of the voices I recognized as being those 
of dear ones who had passed out of the body. 

2863. "Then I have no distinct recollection of anything until 
I awoke in the spirit spheres; and through all eternity I shall not 
forget that awakening. 

(a) "I seemed to be reclining on a downy couch and all 
around me were flowers, whose subtle fragrance filled the room. 

(&) "Back of the flowers were the most beautiful land- 
scapes I had ever seen. The snow-clad mountains and the rivers 
of clear, limpid water seemed to be in rose-colored light. 

(c) "At first everything seemed quiet; but, after I had thor- 
oughly awakened, I heard music, the harmonious vibrations of 
which seemed to rise and fall as naturally as if produced by 
atmospheric waves. 1 asked myself could those beautiful sounds 
really be music. And, as if to answer, there appeared by my side 
the ioveliest creature I had ever seen; and, although she spoke 
no words, I seemed to understand an answer in the affirmative. 

2864. "By this same thought language she told me that she 
had been my guardian spirit while I was in the body, and now 
that I had passed out of the body, she would show me over the 
home I had built for myself, and then her work would be over. 

{a) "She said: 'This beautiful room that you are feasting 
your eyes on now is the result of self-denial and making others 
happy. But I have many things to show you that are not so 
beautiful.' 



RENDING THE VAIL. 463 

(&) "She led me from the room I was in into another. Here 
everything was so dark at first that I could scarcely see; but 
after awhile my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, and all 
around me I could see rubbish of every kind. The air seemed 
heavy with a loathsome odor. This, my guide said, I had built 
out of my selfishness. 

(c) "She led me on and on through rooms little better than 
this. Then she led me on into some that were a little brighter. 
Every time I had striven to be better I had created something- 
bright. 

(d) "She led me into the garden. There among the most 
beautiful flowers were growing the most obnoxious weeds — all, 
she said, the result of my spiritual idleness. 

2865. "She said, in order to overcome all of this and make 
a home as beautiful as those I saw around me, I would have to 
labor among the people on earth, and among spirits lower than 
myself. 

2866. "But I said, 'If I see any other spirits that do not 
need it, show them my garden, and only invite them into my best 
rooms.' 

2867. "She looked at me so sadly, and said: 'My child, you 
might do that on earth, but you cannot here'; and, to my surprise, 
I found this only too true. 

2868. "I found that I could read others' thoughts, and they 
mine, as readily as I could read those of my guide. 

2869. "I am striving to correct my earthly faults as much 
as I can. And I hope the lesson of my transition into the higher 
life may be of benefit to those who read it. 

2870. "Strive for high and pure thoughts and noble deeds 
on earth, and when you pass out of your body, only beautiful 
sights will greet your eves. 

(Signed) "Dr. Chileswortli." 

Transition No. 2. (942.) 

Captain T. J. Ilauglieij. 

2871. For portrait, see page 465. 

2872. Captain Thomas Jefferson Haughey served in the War 
of the Kebellion as a captain of United States Infantry and was 
treasurer of Miami County, Kansas, about the year 1865. He 
was a Spiritualist many years, and was a member of this circle 
at the beginning, and spent many joyful hours in communion 
with his spirit wife and son, who had passed to the higher side 
of life many years ago. Before seeing the light of Spiritualism, 
he was a member of the Church of Christ, and sometimes omci 
ated in the pulpit; and, contrary to his desires, his folks had 
services at his funeral after the manner of the Christian Church, 
to which he refers in his writing below. 



464 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

But this, our brother and friend, comes to us now, stands 
before us, talks to us; we see the form as of yore; and, in evi- 
dence that it is he, we behold him writing, and he gives us the 
writing, as follows, and dissolves away: 

2873. "Good-evening, friends. 

(a) "I am here, writing to-night, through Sam's invitation. 

(b) "I met Sam at the last circle, and he said : 4 Mr. Haughey, 
I want you to write for them a transition as is a transition' ; and, 
in obeying Sam's request, 

(c) "I will endeavor to tell you all about my transition; 
that is, as much about it as I can find words pertaining thereto 
that you can understand. 

2874. "As I passed out of my body I could see hosts of 
friends arouud me. Among them I could see my wife and 
daughter, and my son Frank. My old friend Nick was also among 
the goodly number. 

2875. "The greeting they gave was just what you would 
give to one of your loved ones that had been away from you for 
years. How 7 repaid I felt to be out of that old cumbersome body! 

2876. "I didn't like the ceremony over my body, but we will 
pass that by. 

2877. "Frank said : 'Father, we are going to take you to the 
home you have w 7 orked so faithfully for years to prepare for your 
coming. 

2878. "He linked my arm in his and in the twinkling of an 
eye, as it seemed to me, we were inside the grounds of one of the 
most beautiful places I have ever seen. 

2879. "The lawn was carpeted with velvety green grass; and 
here and there all over it were artistic flower-beds and fountains 
whose falling waters gave forth a musical sound. 

2880. "To the left of the lawn was a beautiful park. The 
trees in this park beggared all description, so I shall not under- 
take to describe them to you. 

2881. "To the right was a beautiful little stream. 

2882. "Beyond the stream were acres of lovely wild flowers. 

2883. "As w r e walked toward the house, over the white peb- 
bly path, I could hear birds trilling forth their songs of praise. 

2884. "Friends, can you imagine a house built of alabaster 
and silver, over whose walls trail delicate green vines? If you 
can, you can perhaps draw a fair picture in your mind of my 
spirit home. 

(a) "I have not the gift of language sufficiently grand to 
describe the interior, but it was in perfect keeping with the 
outside. 

2885. "I thought, at first, that I would like to rest there 
forever; but, after T was thoroughly rested, I saw how selfish it 
would be for me to be idle while so many needed the light. 

2886. "And, in my small way, I have been endeavoring all 
I could to help those in the lower spheres and those on earth. 



RENDIXG THE VAIL. 



465 



2887. U I wish every mortal would develop the spiritual part 
of his nature. so that when the time comes for him to take on 
immortality the way will not be dark, but illumined with the 
light of kindly deeds. 

2888. "Such will hear no rush of dark waters and catch 
not the glimpse of the 'boatman pale'; but see before you a beauti- 
ful broad highway, with numberless friends coming to meet vou. 

(Signed) "T. J. HaugUyP' 





'<% 








V: v '■•■*• 


X 


■v 


i 



2871. Captain T.J. HA UGHEY. (1058.) 2889. 



V. C. JARBOE. 



(1966.) 



Transition No. 3. 
T 7 . C. Jarboe. 



(969.) 



2890. It is said this V. C. Jarboe was a banker at Kansas 
City. The value of this portrait is that this spirit is what we call 
a good materializer and always stood before the circle in excel 
lent make-up, and the artist presents the portrait as he appeared 
to the circle, making the sketch in less than one minute. He 
gives this account of his transition: 

(a) "My friends, you have asked for the story of my passing- 
out, and, if it will give you pleasure, I will try to tell you all I 
can remember of it. 

(&) "I do not have any remembrance of my spirit leaving the 
body. The shock must have been very slight, for I cannot remem- 
ber any sensation but one of pleasure. 

2891. "At my awakening, my mother was sitting by my 
side. I felt as if by some mysterious power I had been carried 
back to mv bovhood da vs. It seemed so natural to see that dear 



466 RENDING THE VAIL. 

face smiling at me; and I hoped that it would ever be thus, and 
that I should feel no more the cares of life away frum mother. 

2892. "It was then my mother spoke, and said: 'My dear 
son, I have you with me at last! I have been waiting so patiently 
for 3'our coming, and now you have come to stay.' 

2893. "I said : 'Mother, have I really passed out of the body V 

2894. "She replied that I had been out of my body for sev- 
eral days, and was now in my spirit home. 

2895. "My home was not just what I fancied it would be, 
but still I am very happy, and everything around me seems to 
grow more beautiful each day. 

2895. "I have not settled down to work. I am endeavoring 
to acquire all the knowledge I can, in regard to the life in the 
spirit spheres, in hopes that it may be of benefit to those I am 
interested in on earth. 

2896. "I am longing for the time to come when I can prove 
to all that man still lives after death, and that he is conscious of 
all that is transpiring in the world he has left and can still take 
an interest in the welfare of those he held most dear while he 
was in the physical body; and, by making the proper conditions, 
he could be to them the same friend and adviser as of old. 

2897. "If our friends on earth will open up the way, we will 
gladly come. 

(Signed) "7. C. Jarboe" 

Transition No. 4. (982.) 

Judge Win. B. Wagstajf. 

2898. For portrait, see page 467. 

2899. This spirit claims to be the Win. K. Wagstaff who re- 
sided at Paola, Miami County, Kansas, and was judge of his 
judicial district several years prior to 1886, but for some years has 
been a resident in spirit life. 

This portrait is a good likeness of the spirit form that stood 
before this circle and made the following writing: 

2900. "My friends, I knew little of Spiritualism before I died, 
so I shall not call my death a transition. 

2901. "I did not want to leaye the body, but the summons 
of Nature must be obeyed, and I laid aside my mortal body and 
took that of the spirit. 

2902. "The fear of death is the result of false teaching and 
ignorance. 

2903. "My death was really painless, and I am led to believe 
all are the same. The individual may be suffering a great deal 
of pain before death really takes hold of him, but when death 
really comes, I think there is no pain. 

2904. "I felt like a stranger in a strange land when I first 
awoke in the spirit life, but one after another of my old friends 
came around me and talked to me of the place I was in ; it seemed 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



467 



like old times to hear myself greeted by the old familiar name, 
William. 

2905. "It was hard for me to realize what kind of a place I 
was in. It was entirely different from any kind of a heaven I had 
ever read of. Everything seemed as material to me as when I 
was living. My friends, many of them, had beautiful homes with 
every comfort. 

2906. "I have been to this circle a number of times, and have 
listened attentively to all that has been said. 

2907. "I know that some of you wonder why the spirits seem 
to make contradictory statements in regard to the spirit world. 

2908. "I think it must be just as it is on earth: Two people 
may be driving along a country lane, and one will notice the con- 
dition of the wheat and corn, and the other, perhaps, will only see 
the trees and flowers; and, if you should ask these people what 
they saw in their drive, how widely different their descriptions 
would be! — and still both would be true. 

2909. "My home has improved much since I came to live in 
it, and I find that it improves as I mvself improve. 

(Signed) "Wm. JR. Wagstaff." 




Judge WM. R. WAGSTAFF. (965.) 



2910. 



AUGUSTUS WILSON. (1014^.) 



Transition No. 5. 
Augustus Wilson. 

2911. We know nothing of this spirit, excepting that Dr. Grile 
and Mrs. Dr. Lamb seem to have known him at Parsons, Kansas. 

The reader should bear in mind that all of these papers were 
written bv visible forms, and at a rate of not less than 200 words 



468 RENDING THE VAIL. 

per minute, except the seventh. If no mortal can write so fast, 
then some other did make this writing, to-wit : 

2912. "The gentleman that has charge of this affair, I believe 
you call it a seance, said I might come and tell you all about how 
I felt when I was dying and after I was dead. 

2913. (a) "I can remember seeing people around me that 
I thought had been dead for years. I thought this very strange; 
but, after a little while, (b) I began to experience a nervous feel- 
ing all over my body, (c) In a few minutes I seemed to be float- 
ing in the air. '(d) I was yet in the same room of my last sickness. 
(e) There seemed to be two of myself lying on the bed, and all 
the family in deepest grief, (f) Why I could not tell, for I felt 
so relieved. I did not feel any of the torturing pains I had felr 
for hours, (g) Some of the people I had thought dead wanted 
me to go with them, (li) So we started to open a door, but be- 
fore I could do it, I was on the other side. 

2914. "And, stranger still, I could walk on the air as well 
as, and even better than, I could on the ground. I laughed at 
the idea: for I felt that I was only dreaming and would awake 
ere long, and find that all my pain was a reality — but such was 
not the case. 

2915. "I found, to my sorrow, that I was dead. I was very 
much dissatisfied, and felt that God was very unjust to take me 
away from those I loved when they needed me so much and I had 
so much to work for. 

2916. "And then, again, I was not satisfied with the place 
I was in. Everything seemed to be in a fog. One morning I de- 
cided to get out of that place, if I had to walk out. So I started, 
but the farther I walked the denser the fog seemed to get. 

2917. "From this condition I sank down upon a rock; and, 
with my head in my hands, I wept from bitter disappointment. 
Oh, what had I done to be so illy treated? I had always striven 
to procure the best for those around me. I sat thinking for some 
time. 

2918. "Then there appeared to me a man. I say 'appeared,' 
for he seemed to come from out of the fog. He said to me : 'That 
is just it. You have worked for self alone, being content if those 
you loved were happy. That was a very selfish love, my friend. 
You should have striven to make others around you happy, as 
those who claimed your love.' He talked just as if I had been 
talking out loud and he had heard me. I don't know how long 
he talked to me, but it must have been for hours. He promised 
to help me out of my difficulty if I would try to help myself. He 
has kept his word, and all around me it brightens. 

2919. "This was not my last disappointment. No, indeed, 
friends. I had one more bitter than this. When I returned to my 
old home, I found that none of them could see me or feel me. 
Thev grieved for me as one dead. None of vou can know what a 



RENDING THE TAIL. 



469 



heartache this gives one, unless you experience it yourselves— to 
have those you have loved for years and still love not to know 
you are with them. 

"But, as I said before, all that has passed away and 1 am 
happy. 

2920. "My only regret is that I did not know something of 
the geography of the country I was going to. 

(Signed) "A ugustus Wilson." 




2921. 



KATE M. HUXLEY 



(1126-1127.) 



470 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Transition No. 6. (1020.) 

Kate M. Huxley. 

2922. This spirit frequented the seances from the first, being 
an old-time acquaintance of Mr. Pratt, and seemed to have great 
ability of materialization. 

The wonderful manner of the production of this portrait 
fully establishes the psychic claim in the minds of the eye- 
witnesses, to the seance account of which the reader is referred. 
(1126-1127.) And wonderful, too, that a woman angel in visible 
form should write thus: 

2923. "Friends, many years have passed, as you reckon time, 
since I came to dwell in the spirit world. Nature had on her 
brightest dress when I passed away. Everything looked so beau- 
tiful that I felt that I should like to linger a little longer before 
I went to the unknown country that lay before; and you can 
judge what pleasant surprise was in store for me when I reached 
my spirit home. 

2924. "I felt that I was in dreamland, reveling in all its wild 
beauty; and, when I realized that this was my future home, my 
joy was unbounded. 

2925. "I returned to my old home, and tried to impress its 
inmates with my happiness; but they could not understand me, 
even after I learned how to rap for them. To them the raps, that 
have carried balm to so many sad hearts, meant nothing. 

2926. "As time passed I ceased to grieve over them, and 
many have passed over here, and we are happy together. 

2927. "My home is situated in a seemingly mountainous coun- 
try, (a) The house is a stately white edifice, and a lawn covered 
with beautiful trees and flowers in front of it. (b) A beautiful 
river winds its way through an open meadow, (c) Along the river 
banks grow numerous flowers, and the dainty (d) pond lily rises 
out of the river-bed to greet us with its pure (e) fragrance. (/) My 
home is just what I would want it to be. Other spirits tell me 
their homes are all fashioned from their ideals. 

2928. "I often meet spirits whose homes are not beautiful, 
but they seem contented and say when they progress more and 
wish better houses, they will be given to them. 

2929. "It -is true, friends: 'there are many mansions' in 
heaven. 

(Signed) "Kate M. Huxley." 

Transition No. 7. 
J. L. Greenup. 

2930. For portrait, see page 471. 

2931. The subject of this portrait was a Methodist minister 
in Kentucky for some twenty-five years. 

2932. James F. Greenup, a member of the circle, had been 



RENDING THE VAIL. 



471 



promised a writing by his father in spirit life, and now there came 
up a form in the arena at the desk and took the pencil, saying to 
Mr. Greenup: 

"My son, I will now try to write. If I cannot do all myself, 
I will ask some of these near me to help me. I cannot wTite very 
fast, not being used to this way. 

"He, however, in about two minutes 1 time, executed this 
writing : 

2933. "My son, you have asked me for my transition. By that 
I understand you to mean for me to tell what my sensations were 
after I died. 

2934. "I remember seeing many beautiful sights, just before 
I died, but all seemed so much like a dream to me that I don't 
remember whether I spoke of it at the time or not. 



N 




m 



2930. 



J. L. GREENUP. 



2940. Judge S. O. THACHER. (1168.) 



2935. "I never left my body until after it was buried. Then 
a great many of my friends and relatives took me away. Mary 
was among them, and she seemed to understand everything so well. 

2936. "At first it was a great surprise to me to know that 
I could return to earth and see my friends; and it grieved me to 
think I could come back: for I had always been taught that only 
the evil could return. 

2937. "I knew that I had tried as hard as anyone to do what 
I thought was right. Of course I can see many mistakes I made 
while I was living on earth, and I am trying my best to clear up 
all my mistakes. 

2938. "Heaven is not what I thought it would be. But it is 
a great deal more beautiful than I thought any place could be. 



472 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

2939. "Keep on, my dear son; you are on the right path. I 
hope some of my old friends in Kentucky may know this, and I 
hope may be brought into this light and truth. 

"Lovingly your father, /. L. Greenup" 

Transition No. 8. (1071.) 

8. 0. Timelier. 

2940. For portrait, see page 471. 

2941. Solon O. Thacher was a pioneer of Kansas. He resided 
at Lawrence, and was district judge about 1862, 1863, and 1864, 
and a prominent lawyer. He visited these seances, with his fam- 
ily, near the beginning. He passed to spirit life some six years 
ago and visited the seances since. This portrait looks like the 
form that made this writing. 

2942. "The years have gone swiftly by since my friends on 
earth bade me a sad farewell, and I journeyed on to the beyond. 

2943. "I was glad to make the change for myself, but regret- 
ted that it was not in my power to make the loved ones on earth 
feel that it was for my good that 1 had stepped out of the tenement 
of clay and put on the bright garb of the immortals. 

2944. "I realized, from the first, that I was out of my body. 
I felt pained to think those I loved the best should feel such un- 
controllable grief at my transition into another life. 

2945. "I stayed around home several days before I would fol- 
low the spirit guides and friends who had come to take me away. 

2946. "When I got ready to ascend, we seemed to travel like 
the wind. I have no recollection of the distance, but it seemed 
only a minute to me before we were in a beautiful country. 

2947. "It reminded me more of some of the beautiful parks 
you see in some of your large cities. Flowers were everywhere. 
The ground seemed covered with beautiful flowers. The air 
seemed balmy, but there was no wind stirring. 

2948. "I come to my friends, often on earth, but cannot 
make them feel my presence. It is then that I experience the 
onlv sorrow I ever feel in this life. 

(Signed) «S. 0. Thacler." 



GENERAL INDRX. 



A. 

Paragraphs. 

Abdul Faragius 11 43 

Aber, Wesley, wrote 792, 2770-2859 

trumpet singing 983-985 

" Lorenzo 77 1 

Mrs. Sallie, personifies 1039 

Abiff, Hiram 927, 930, 574-577, 1175 

Abubeker 1143 

Affidavits 1197-1206 

Affinity, chemical 1972, 1973 

" all other 2159 

Agnostic, don't know 2452-245 1 

Alcoholic stimulants 2091 

Alliance, gone up 790 

party 2114 

Angel cloth 720, 721 

Angels, guardian 2106, 2384, 2385 

have parental care 2579 

Anti-spiritual movement 2277 

Apparition 1188 

Arena 352-355, 65iy 2 

Aristotle 72 J 

Art in spirit world , 2303, 2304 

" spiritual value of 2073 

" destiny not ephemeral 2090 

" on spirit side 2077-2081 

" faculties should be cultivated 2092 

Artist making portraits for recognition 938. 939 

Artists, special 2082, 2083, 2087 

Asiatic morals and Christian methods 227- 

Asteroids, Denton speaks of 491 

Astrology 2110. 2111. 2113 

Astronomy and astronomers in spirit life 1 556 

Atlantas, commencement of discussion of 198. 1651 

Yerma, etc 2697-2702 

Atom, atomie, monad 1240, 1 242 

Diagram of 1173.1171 

" its very workings visible to spirit 2696 

" contains all laws of force 2695 

Atonement 1344. 1345. 1688 



474 HENDINQ THE TAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Aura, one's own spirit ether the book of the spirit 2542-2547 

Aurora borealis 2040 

Authentication 1197 

Automatic phenomena defined 1195 

Automatons , 1123 



B. 

Bajazet 120,161 

Bancroft, George 149 

Bible — God of love and vengeance 1386 

" whatever it may be, we have spirit return 1388-1390 

not old, and only history at best 2066 

" Old Testament compiled by Josephus 2067 

" without authentication 2256 

its origin, age 2257-2259 

" as a history of Spiritualism 2260 

" representations of Jesus 2321-2324 

" makes Jesus declare one absolute truth 2325 

" its good and evil influence 2409 

" in general 2570-2572 

Blackmore, Dr 716 a, b 

Blood, circulation of 1978-1991 

Bodies, organic, of what composed 2030-2035 

Body, phantom, how made 2019-2022 

Book of psychic ether 2541-2552 

Brain, manifesting machine of its owner. ... 1405 

Brown, John 112- h 

Brownlow, Parson 517 

Bruce, Gen 149 

Bruno 578, 912, 918, 920, 684 

Buddha and wife 194, 702-703 d 

Buddington, John 279% 

Bundy, J. C 1041, 1042, 1052, 1053 

Butterfly and resurrection 2115 



C. 

Cabinet controls 869 

1170 

" reconstructed of solid wood 640 

Capital punishment 1641, 1642 

Carbon, its meaning in spirit life 1415 

Carson, Dr 338-338 c 

Castanet-playing 111m 

Casualties 2119 

Cato 724 



INDEX. 475 

Paragraphs, 

Cerebration, unconscious 2u6 1 

Chaldean writing 1175 

Characteristics in spirit life 89 1 

Chase, Warren, in spirit life 411 

Charity, the true 1521-1524 

Chemical affinity 1972, 1973 

action 2817-2819 

Chemists — some have spirit aid 219 

Chinaman 250 

Christ Jesus, in his name savage wars 2328, 2329 

Christian Church one of the greatest hindrances to progress 2341, 2514 

Christian dogmas have engendered ignorance 2326, 2327 

Christian philosophy, origin of 2066 

Christian Science 2403 

Christians attempted by force to possess the world 2310 a-f 

Christian system conjured up 2587 

" ordinances, wine and temperance 2586 

uses ordinances God set up, but the Son and Holy 

Spirit set aside, see 2581-2589 

Church, spirits and revivals 2140 

says "Ignorance is bliss" 2265 

dogmas should be abandoned for reason 2278 

and law as at present two great curses 2515 

her great mistake 1293-1301 

rapidly growing out of old theology 1433, 1434 

her clergy expect homage 1439, 1440 

what the returns for all the millions she exacts 1440-1442 

Circle defined , 1192 

" members of 96 

" reorganization of 134 a-c 

at renewal of seances 887 

" proper persons for 1337 

Cicero 700 

Clairvoyance as death sets in 210$ 

Clay, Henry 112 a-k 

Cleopatra 647 

Clergy and theology murdered thousands of joys 1690 

Coffin, E. K., discoursed in his old-time eloquence 258-270 

" manner of socials in spirit life 453 

" again in his happiest mood 493 

Colloquial controls 868 

Conclusion, summary by Denton 2293-2302 

Confucius, portrait 1144 

Conscience the enthroned judge 1601-1607 

Consolation of Spiritualism 1644 

Controls, new 867-869 

Coons, Dr., talks in his own way 510 

Cortez 701 



476 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Cosmic rotary motion 2004-2009 

Cotubamana ...347 

8 feet tall 660, 661 

Creationist, special 2286 

" each has his own ideal God 2287 

Creed, orthodox, creates a servile fear 1491 

opposed to levity 1492, 1493 

Creedal sacerdotalism sanctions dark deeds why Spiritualists con- 
tinue the name Christian 1494, 1495 

■" " has cursed the world 1817 

Creedalism not the purpose of this book 1834 

of Christianity as now taught false from foundation up. . .1839 

Cripple 40 

Cutter, Dr., a spirit, and Belteshazzar 401 

Cyclones 2042,2821 

D. 

Death, or The Transition, not unusual, but the common lot 1259 & 

only separates us by a very thin vail 1259 c 

persons of strong spiritual perceptions feel presence of those 

passed through it 1259 d 

carries you on to a sweeter gardening toil 1259 f 

is only change in likeness of the tree 1302-1305 

does not rob of a single faculty 1334 

natural as birth, the second birth 1344 

the passing out of the garment of materiality 1347 

a serious change, varying in degree 1419 a-r 

how determined 1419 f 

by the law of Nature has its consolations 1504-1506 

causes much gloom because of church teaching 1507, 1508 

is but the second birth 1549, 1550 a-d 

the spirit from its physical home to greater activity 1559-1562 

to spirits is the new birth 1599 

is the opening door to a beautiful home 1656, 1657 

only an incident in chain of endless life 2789 

strips off all hypocrisy 2854 

the dawning of another life 2807 

Definitions 1188-1196 

Deific existence as per science 178 

Deities, numberless, effect of on mankind 2659, 2660 

Dematerialize 1190 

Denton 11, 35, 110 f 

speaks of photography 162 & 

writes 174, 180 

makes oration 212 a- j 

mirthful 221 a, b 

makes mirth at the mustard overdose 242 



INDEX. 477 

Paragraphs. 

Denton speaks of souls of animals 245 

makes an oration 1922 

meets and passes spirit Paine 267, U)30 

oration setting up identity 285 

since in spirit life can demonstrate future life 1931 

learns of ancient spirits 2273 

talks while writing 287 

oration, Italy, nebulae, planetary motions 351 

sacerdotalism must go 356 a , 6 

reviews the minutes 364 

soul never but once entirely leaves the body 365 

photography 382 

corporal structures and reconstruction of cabinet 402. 403 

oration while writing 424 

discusses automatons -t26-428 

talks on one theme while writing on another 472 

talks of Thomas Paine's oration while himself writing. .. .49b. 1804 

manipulates the telegraph 557 

" says the moon is a nice home for some spirits 558 

" discusses his personality 1937 

" because we do not talk of protoplasm all the time we are con- 
sidered someone else 1940 

" syllogism 2270-2272 

No. 2 2285 

trumpet speech on materialization 881 

criticises Washburn's speech at Liberal Camp 744, 745. 2149 

speaks on organization 766 

elated over test seance 773 

and Reed experiment at the seance-table, in the arena, and 

with tablets 783. 784 

Dematerialization 119 d 

as though passing down on an elevator 345 

Demosthenes 699 

Devil, as a hungry wolf in green pastures 1449 b, c 

said: "God knows the fruit good." 1451 

and Solomon admonish to get wisdom 1 4~. r > 

has the advantage of the two myths 1 454-1457 

and hell a religious tenet of all ages 1525 

invented by priests 1 526 

not so powerful, but more cunning than God 1526 

of your own you raise by cultivating the evil in yourself 1527 

and hell should be eliminated 152s. 1530 

Des. Dr. (Dr. Dass), Swede 543% 

gives description of spirit country 746 a-c 

Diagram of seance-room 11 70 

Dialogue — Reed, Gile, Prof. Hare, and Bessie 

Diogenes, Rachel 192, 1 93 

as in glittering diamonds 622 

— 31 — 



478 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Diogenes and his lantern 659, 2801-2805 

Disease in general and specific, definition, cause, cure 1945-1966 

by inaction of epidermic excretories 1947-1949 

by bacteria in epidemics and contagions 1952 

healing of, is with the spirit that owns the body, but may 

be assisted by other spirit 1955-1964 

abatement assisted in various ways 1965 

Dreams, some of them explained 1364 a, b 

again 2842-2846 

Drunkenness, cause and cure 2212-2217 



E. 

Earth, very old 2263 

inhabited by curious people 1930 

composed of innumerable millions of atoms 2267 

visited by spirits from other planets 1933-1934 

finally moulded into a garden that germinated man 2269 

Edison's opinion of origin of life, Faraday 809, 2574, 2692-2696 

" solar telephone not a success 2118 

Edison assisted by spirits 2485 

Egyptian pyramids, how the great stones were moved 2261 d 

Electric light not due to burning charcoal 1328 

Electrical, mechanical possibilities 1036 

JElectricity is an action by which the nature of a substance is changed. .1327 

oxygen positive 1969 

hydrogen negative 1970 

two forms of, positive, male 1969 

" negative, female 1973 

chemical affinity 1972, 1973 

positive is -cold 1 990 

negative is warm 1991 

"is magnetism 1971 

positive in union with negative forms electro-magnetism, 

which in true equilibrium is the home of the spirit 1976 

in different degrees and forms of refinement composes the 

upper air 1646 

and magnetism are matter 1974 

and magnetism are the male and female elements in the 

universe 1977 

" and magnetism, climatic modifiers 2627 

Elements, under law, construct all forms on lines of geometrical 

proportions 2667 

Elongation 190 

Endosmosis 540 a-o 

Environments, effects of 2703 d 

Ericsson, John 550-553 



/ \ DEX. 479 

Paragraphs. 

Error dies hard 240 7 

Etherealizations 70;:, 713-715 

Evil, much of it in religious zeal 1254 

in everything but himself, the religious devotee sees, being out 

of divine order himself 1255 

and herein is a base of everlastingness crude in capacity of 

progress 1256 

because of ignorance, is seen where knowledge would show the 

highest good 1280 

by some, is seen in phenomena, which proceed from exalted 

motives 1279-1285 

and good in all things 1527 

Evolution, definition of 2165, 2166 

as increase in mass decrease in stability of molecules 2640 

" of material forms 2650 

demonstrable evidences of its laws 2654-2656 

diagram of 1172 

Experiences 1634 

law of, not alone for a probationary state, but is the 

law of Nature 1634 a-e 

overcome ignorance, man's greatest foe 1635 

the greatest of all importance 1637 

show that to exist is the end of all endeavor 1638 

first in spirit life 1643 



Faculties, mental, in spirit life 110 d-c 

origin of 2073^-2076 

Faith, clergy seem to teach that what a person believes is of more 

importance than what he is 1375 

" not alone, but knowledge the true savior 1376-1379 

Faraday, Prof. M 49, 142, 173 

scientific assumption of Deity 17S 

proves divers gifts by the same spirit 226 

entered spirit life ignorant of it 2602 

" pamphlets, medium of 173 

predicts no more revelation of personal God order.. 2606 

examines paper 288 

manipulates telegraph 560 

engravings of writing 1180 

Fear, many fear because of a false interpretation of past history. . . .1655 »i 

Flowers, beautiful emblems 2491 

Force, how measured 2623% 

Form, aggregation of atoms of homogeneous motion 2030 

Forms, different, each composed of atoms of different modes of 

motion 2028 f 

of art in spirit life are variable according to material used, 
and reflected to minds on earth: all is force in mode of 
motion 2246 



480 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs 
Forms of different motion attempt equilibrium when meeting, and 

same law in spirit 2632 

on eartn, composed of elements of the earth 2668 

" of spirits and mortals have relations producing reciprocal 

action 2669 

all evolved from matter " 2692 

" shapes moulded by power of spirit. , 2808-2811 

two children 464 

" three children side by side 466 

two adults rise together 465 

Form building and disintegrating by electro-magnetic action. .. .2641-2646 

power of to change 197 

ref ractibility 204 c 

Forms appear to rise up through the floor and descend as though 

going down through the floor 284 

Fog-horn boy 223 

Fowler, 0. S., and phrenology 211 

somewhat changed his mind on phrenology — finding 
it, astrology, psychometry, and physiognomy go 
together — but the psychometric method is the true 

one 348-392 

Frazer and partner murdered and talk in whisper 112 n 



G. 

Galvanism might be used to facilitate precipitation 2631 

Geology, question of igneous or aqueous origin of earth and primi- 
tive formations not yet at rest 1697 

important to ascertain origin of secondary formation 1698 

one essential to become practical in 1699 

and other sciences all right on earth, but save Spirit- 
ualism, which endures, of little value in spirit 1938 

Gibbon 91 

God, creative power or energy, the two assumptions of 1290-1291 

the scientific is the law of atomic activity 1291 

supreme principle 1311 

under the name Jehovah, a mere figment of human imagination. 1445 
as worshiped in every country, in all ages, a nature accord- 
ing to the gross conceptions of the people of the time and 

place 1446 

ideal image of designing and cunning men 1447 

" implored to build his fences higher, that his lambs may not 

get over into greener pastures among Wolves and the devil... 1449 
" said the fruit would kill, man and woman ate of it and died. . .1449 c 
" of theology all powerful, inconsistent, vindictive, jealous, cruel, 

and revengeful 1459 



INDEX. 481 

Paragraphs. 

God made the tree of evil 1460 

such, not found by spirits 2169 

each person can behold his own, in the image of his own nature. .1490 

" of the Christians a myth 1904-1908 

" such as theologians claim, without evidence, either on earth 

or in spirit 234 1 

if such, universe were drenched in blood 2167, 2163 

there is; every man a God, everything good is God, but no 

personal God outside of and above Nature 2170-2173 

idea the great trouble with earth, out of it your wars and 

carnage, Governments run upon it 2357-2359 

" idea nearly eliminated from your Government, but central- 
ization left and it is reverting to God idea 2360 

" none as supreme tyrant except ignorance 2361, 2362 

" none that delights to make innocents languish in endless hell 

on account of fathers' disobedience 2363-2366 

none that orders his soldiers to kill all male children in an 

enemy's land 2525 

of theology has the good suffer side by side with lowest 

outcasts 252 \ 

" some worship an ideal they would not tolerate in any man, but 

call Spiritualists crazy. 2527, 2528 

the true, universal law innate in Nature 2368, 2489 

of every age and people an ideal like to their own develop- 
ments; set bounds to research, because no more beyond, 

and called Zaccheus down 2387, 2388 

of theology fights with fire and sword and guillotine 2397 

" of theology proven by science to be a false God 2398 

of theology shed abroad in the heart has strewn the earth 

with martyrs' bones 2461 

of theology, love of, sends war and desolation 2463 

" of favoritism substituted for love of fellow-men, bends with 

pity as the good Samaritan 2464 

of mercy would not torture the babe to death nor kill by 

earthquakes 2523 

Government, there will be none real good among men where and 

while orthodox theology prevails 1463, 1464 

good, must be upon good and just principles derived 

from a knowledge of man's true nature 1465, 1466 

abortive, must be the result of feeding the people's 

minds on the common God idea 1467, 1468 

Governments and social systems 2427-2435 

Government schools 2437-2439 

Bellamy's ideal 2103 

Grant, U. S.: "People demanded fetters and I was compelled to 

fasten them on, but will now work for their freedom." 413 

Greek and Roman civilization declined, and why 2274-2276 

" superior to Roman, and why 2279 d 

Gulf Stream, original cause of 2038 



482 RENDING THE VAIL. 

H. 

Paragraphs 

Hale, Bishop of Canterbury, England 148 

Hamlin, Hannibal 621 

Hare, flashlight photo of Dr. Reed 017 

Hare, Prof 53,171 

" writing, Government 1209 

" aggrandizement of money better than by war, but Spirit- 
ualism reaches all conditions 1211 

Harrold, Ephraim 112 / 

Haughey, T. J., answers questions 1071% 

Heart failure 2226, 2227 

Heat, combining of elements evolving electricity assumes the form 

of heat 1327 

" solar, not direct rays of sun, but chemical action 1472, 1474 

Heights of forms 84-328 

Hell, within your own soul 1350 

averted so as not to let devils in 1352, 1353 

old notion of, being discarded by the churches 1433, 1434 

has been preached all over the world, effect of 1488, 1489 

" a tenet of religion of people of every nation for ages 1525 

" invented to hold masses in subjection 1526 

" for you by your own wrong thoughts and deeds 1527 

"If you mean a personal hell, yes; and most hell you see in 

others is reflection of yourself." 2370 a-d 

" the book of remembrance not blotted out and only balanced 

by restitution 2371-2374 

none of fire and brimstone • 2375, 2376 

" must be disciplinary, and therefore cannot be endless 2377 

" of desponding, because good angels driven away, but they re- 
turn when ..2384 

though a myth, has done almost as much damage as a real 

Satan 2405 

Henry, Patrick 754 

Hieroglyphics of Yucatan made by English people. 2106% 

Highway to spirit world extends both ways 1935 

Hiram Abiff ." 574 

" " gives Chaldean writing 575 

" had Bruno interpret 576 

" portrait 926 

" biography 926-930 

" tests of Masonry to Mr. Miller 577, 822 

Holy Ghost, the 2138 

Hiram of Tyre 573 

Hope, spirit Reed's essay on 1380-1383 

House, Mary 655,859 

Humboldt, Baron von, and great minds 2422-2425 

Huxley, Kate M 2922 



INDEX. 488 

Paragraphs. 

Hydrogen, negative electricity 1970 

Hypatia 717, 71S 

Hypnotic power 2773-277G 

Hypnotics, defined 1475 

Hypnotism, conscious and unconscious cerebration 2064 



I. 

Ideas of great men in the past were prey of the unscrupulous 2665 

of great minds to-day must shine rather in private circles. .. .2666 

Igneous or aqueous origin of the earth 2095 

Individuality stamped on all things 2071, 2540 

the hell of theology 2072 

best for soul growth 2580 

Ingersoll 2125-2404 

Inventions reflections of spirit genius 2423-2425 

claimed original 2426 

Insane 2062 c 

Insanity, none intrinsic 2064 d, e 

definition 2065 

cause of apparent 1585-1587 

relieved and mind restored by death 1588 

one-third of it obsession 1590 

prevented by Spiritualism 1825-1831 

Inspiration, law of. 2633, 2637, 2663 

Immortality proven makes a basis for philosophy of life 2615 

Italy and her demands 2003 



J. 

Jehovah, the biblical a myth 2210 

Jefferson, Thomas, says Paine was the original author of the Decla- 
ration of Independence 619 

Jenkinson, Wm„ manifests to his father, test of clock striking. .570-571 
Jesus, Josie was the true name, of which was manufactured the 

theological Jesus 2393 

baptized by roughs and called Jesus Savior out of ridicule. .2394 
not the basis, but Moses the real basis of Christian schools 

of theology 2470 

how he came to be the basis of Paul's Christianity 2470-2473 

John on Patmos 2094 

Jollity in spirit life 1922 

Josephus compiled and wrote much of the Jewish Scriptures, called 

the old Bible 2066-2069 

Judgment, the book of spirit ether 2541 -2552 

Julian, Emperor inn. 625 

Jupiter, belts of. electric 218 

earth has such 218 a, ft,* 1835 



484 RENDING THE VAIL. 

K. 

Paragraphs. 
King, Father ' 44 

voice of trumpet . 92 

" writing 110 # 

oral speech and trumpet speech 110-112 c 

proposes to discuss any scientific matter 112 d 

a test writing to questions under seal 126 

speaks and writes 127, 2717, 2721 

marvel of his papers 130 a-c 

writes 141 

voice of trumpet 153 c, 167 

writes on government 170 

speaks of hollow globe and other matters 187, 188 a-d 

voice of trumpet on belts of planets, hollow globe, 

217, 218«-219 

by trumpet, visited all the planets 238, 239 

" trumpet oration 1268 

portrait 907-910 

native of Lamura, weighed 180 pounds; spirits make 

temporary abodes at the planets 393-397 

lived on earth about twenty thousand years ago. 820, 821, 1934 



Labor, slave to false social system 2427 

as innocents in hands of Herod 2428, 2429 

as Lazarus and Dives no myth 2430 

" at convents and benevolent institutions 2431 

the prey of bestial man 2432 

in its behalf, angels wish to roll back the clouds and 

mists 2433-2437 

Lafayette ' 137 

Lamura, Father King 314, 393-396 

went down before Atlantas 393-396 

Lamb, Dr. J. B., spirit writes 520, 521 

transition 537 

the spirit and widow in the mortal meet face to face. .953 
Language, all from one, and that the English, which was pure twenty 
thousand years ago, and then spoken in Lamura, the 

land of Father King 2099 a-f 

none but English should be permitted in schools of 

people using the English 2100 

Sanscrit from English 2101 

at other planets is a natural language.... 2102 

Law, civil and church great curses 2515 

" does not prevent crime 2517 

" is defied by crime 2516 c 



INDEX. 485 

Paragraphs. 
Law, attempting to regulate property regulations, favors caste and 

against the unfortunate 2518 

compulsory, develops antagonism 2519 

of Nature's forces to move all parts toward perfection 2836 

Lewis, M. E., spirit, a minister 153 a 

orates in whisper 214 

Life, in a general sense, never originated because it always was 245U 

individualized is soul 2451 

consists of such mode of motion as the particles of protoplasm 

manifest 1710 

" inheres in matter, its manifestation resultant of natural forces, 

and all evolved from nebulous matter 1711 

difference of a thing alive and the same thing dead is physical 

and chemical only 1712, 1713 

problem of, solved in the fact that knowledge, wisdom, spirit, 

life, man, all of them, always existed 1858-1860 

all forms of, dependent upon each other ; . .1909 

struggle of, under the law of "survival of the fittest" 1910-1913 

" each type of, has its spiritual counterpart 1308 

" organic, cause of 1403 

" not the resultant of the deflagration of tissue attending the 

production of thought 1404 

" or mental force, how translated to material manifestation man 
may never know, but may learn that among the properties 
of protoplasm is one adequate to establish the required 

relation 1406 

manifestation, all of it, consists in musical correspondences 1408 

" organic, eternal, is necessarily a resultant of evolution 1408 

" animation of matter is by spirit 1708 

" inheres in the atom, and so does spirit 2027, 2028 

nor spirit, nor matter had beginning, but always existed, 

2029-2035 

and spirit permeate all space, are eternal 2153-2155, 2266 

waves of, from world eternal, may be felt by man 2647-2649 

organic, aggregation of primitive spiritual elements 215S 

" Denton and Darwin on 2247, 2248 

" of still-born, under law of progression 2248 1 / 4 

Light 119 

" cause of 199 

" what is it? 2575 

" and solar heat 2576 

" not from direct solar rays « 1472 

of the spirit world is atomic radiation 2069 

Lightning, its cause 2820 

Lincoln 91 

Jeff Davis, John Brown Ill a-i 

speaks 112 <i-h 

"Jesuitism murdered me!" 153/) 



486 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs . 
Love of truth by the mind 1247 

" " is a phenomenon of the affections 1248 

" " of spirits only requited by spirit return 1249 

the active power in all life 1253 

" in the grass draws to itself the elements of its growth 1253 a 

in due consideration of law of, if one believe the soul to exist 

after death, he must also believe it may return to those who 

have ears to hear 1269 

it is that calls from better homes in spirit to assist the human 

race on earth 131 4 

" affection, and a smile for those passed over; love, affection, 

and a tear for those who remain 1314 a-c 

the same in the spirit as in the mortal 1334 

of good spirits the "Heavenly Father" ever ready to help, 

asking in return only another love 1355-1356 

the key that unlocks the mysteries of the land beyond the tomb. .1600 

" perfect work of, exhorted to by spirit Denton 1661-1668 

until consumed by the bad deed, lives 1688 

Luther, Martin 236, 358 



M. 

Magnetic needle, dip, polarity, variation 2057-2060 

pores of human body visible to spirits 2018 

Magnetism and electricity 1969-1901 

principal source of heat 2630 

and electricity, currents of, to spirits as streams of water 

to mortals 2017 

Man, evolution of, from cosmic ether 631-635 

see also diagram at 1172 

the highest development 1325 

as an individual under three laws: social, moral, spiritual, 

and only happy when in accord with the three 1409-1411 

each has a special sphere of use on earth and in spirit 1421 a-<j 

to cease at death a self-contradiction 1426 e 

for the living but a portion of the essence 1427 

cannot have a fitting place for the manifest capacities of his 

soul on earth; must therefore be some other condition. .1427-1428 

comparative insignificance ; 1447 

the coronation of Nature and microcosm of all known 1878 

apex of all visible, by virtue of indwelling principle 1880 

compounded of substances and principles 1881 

of elements of grain in field one day, next nerve and muscle, 

then an element of life 1884 

the great reservoir into which all power and substances flow 1885 

great motive power is mind 1886 

has power of mastery of physical and imponderable 1887 



INDEX. 487 

Paragraphs!. 

Man will, eventually, become impressed with the principles of uni- 
versal interests and community of occupations 1889 

has always resisted onward march of any new science or 

religion 1903 

course of, modified by attendant spirits 2135 

in spirit life gravitates to those of his own plane 2136 

may modify his life on earth to his advantage post mortem 2137 

spirit, knowledge, wisdom, coeternal 2178, 2179 

may, ultimately, reach attainments of ability and construct a 

solar system, and even has already done so 2208, 2209 

was planted in the earth at the planting thereof 2268 

when and how he became individualized 2280-2283 

strangely constructed 2024 

came up through lower forms 2052 

passes on w r ith his attainments 2056 

composed of millions of life germs, long time from monad 

to man 2097 

in structure an eternity of wonderment 2099 

and his descendants the highest expression of intelligence. .2104-2105 

beginning of personality 2129 

individuality enduring 2130-2132, 2141, 2142 

except to a limited extent, not a free agent 2134 

turning from dark ages to the living present 2788 

Matter, indestructible 2675 

three laws of 2629 

and spirit counterpart of 'each other 2681 

all that exists is, in reality, matter 1714-1723 

opaque in one state, transparent in another, a puzzle to 

philosophers 2672-2674 

" must exist, and out of it comes spirit — a seeming paradox. 2676-2680 

Materializations, few and dim 113-115 

unusually brilliant 235 

Denton, the first wonderful test 11 

wonderful 665-668 

difficulty and marvel of , 2143 

reason for condition of darkness 2145, 2146 

knowledge of the law of, would modify opinion 2148 

law of outlined 2219-2221 

critics of, answered 2250 a-c 

Materialization 2412 

easily destroyed 2413 

very strange 2414 

highest phase 241" 

how the form is held 2449 

definition 1188 

Maxwell questions 125 a-r 

Medium 1 r,32 n 

Mediumship defined 1532-1 548 



488 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Memory, loss of, not loss of knowledge 2234, 2235 

Mental faculties, claimed by some, direct offspring of divine mind... 2618 

phenomena, definition 1194 

" power always expressed through a brainy substance 2619 

organs, how builded 2638 

Meteors, cause of 2290 

Microbes, life atoms 2043-2046 

Mind, expression of intelligence 2105 a 

the ego, the self, the man manifest in the body 2238 

not dropped at death 2239-2241 

the great motive power 1886-1889 

" acts through brain 1886 

" organism of its own building, but has to build as conditions 

allow 2832 

fact of, beyond doubt chemical substances manifest 2693, 2694 

Minds differ in expression, cause of 2833-2835 

Ministers, self-appointed mediums of God 2488 

do not want to see and know the truth 2539 

Minutes, reading of, as per custom 363 

Denton reviews 364 

" controls ask to amend 1032 

Mirage 2041 

Mirthf ulness in spirit life 108 a-f 

Mistakes of men, women, trees, of all ages, and Thomas Paine even 

as to education, as found out in spirit 2386-2391 

Miracles, nothing occurs in the whole realm of being except through 

consecutive process of cause and effect 1358, 1359 

not in accord with the fact that Nature's laws are never 

suspended 1814-1817 

Moral, all things in nature equally so 2254 

Morality exists in each person 2315 

Motion, three laws of 2639 

Music, piano 865 

Mutes, none in spirit life 2399 



N. 

Names in spirit life, and why on return spirits with difficulty re- 
call their names of earth life 1595-1598 

Nature acts in singular way, changing tactics with changing environ- 
ments 1811-1813 

has provided for the redemption and preservation of all the 
children of earth 1849% 

Nebulae, origin of cosmic motion 2004-2009 

Denton, Laplace 925 

Nellie says she never was born; refers to fact of her spirituality 

having always been 2410 



INDEX. 489 

Paragraphs. 

New ideas must be assailed on all sides, such, craven spirit preys 

upon lives of mediums 2477 

Nixon, Ann 31 

Priscilla 33 

Simira 32 

Toms 41, 196 

" portrait 203 

writing, empty chair 225 a-e 

transformations 299 

makes a talk 509 

Zechey, first singing 89 

again singing 93 

floating. Ill; 

" singing , Ill ; 

similitude of caged lion 344-340 



Obsession, w r orld needs to know more of it 2062, 2063 

Ocean currents 2039 

Omar, portrait 1141 

Omnibenevolence prevents murders 2330-2333 

Ominipotence in Nature 2316 

Ominiscience requires infinite duration 2163, 2164 

Ordinances 2492 

Ordained ministers and their business as any other profession for 

the perquisites 2493-2499 

Organic evolution 1477-1479 

of spirit 1480, 1481 

all outwrought by the law of solicitude, divine 

sympathy 1482-1486 

of the human by conjugal love should be under'' 

pure aspirations . 1487 

Organism cannot respond to all conditions at once 1613 

must pass through varied forms to solid body 2614 

Organization, power of, in spirit conditions of matter, hence the 
organism in spirit holds for eternity, and this is 

proven by reappearance in visible matter 2682-2684 

Origin of cosmic rotary motion 2004-2009 

Orondo. portrait 198 

his wonderful discourse: all life and being and form in- 
herent in atom 829-835 

Ostracism must be expected 1 320-1 322 

sometimes recoils 1 369. 1 370 

impugns the very evidences of the truth of their own 
alleged convictions 1412, 1413 



490 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 
Ostracism by the whole priesthood as up in arms against Spirit- 
ualism 1458 a-e 

would apply the methods of the Inquisition to Spir- 
itualism 1462 

as per spirit Denton 1853-1855 

Owen, R. D 361, 362, 1118 

Oxygen not an element 2096 

one form of life ether 2161, 2162 

positive electricity 1969 

compound, in medical practice 1397 

a preparation of chemists 1397 c-d 

generally treated as an element 1398 

without it no life 1399 

mixed with nitrogen 1400 a -d 



P. 

Paine, Thomas 73, 80, 91 

standing on air 135 

first writing 156 

by voice of trumpet 166 a-f 

oration No. 1 195 

No. 2 213 

makes up from mist 220 

wonderful make-up, speaks and vanishes 247 

" spirit endosmosis 248 

talks on fraud 266 a-c 

as Paine went into cabinet Denton passed out 279 

at Memorial Hall, not in visible form 301 

on photo plate 300 

geologic place of some fossils , 317 

on use of lower forms of life and atomic indestructi- 
bility 318 

free from sin, tobacco, and liquor 319 

" secretary and Lincoln photo 359 

" oratory 360 

wonderful materialization 445 

" counterpart of earthly things found existing in 

spirit 446-452 

and Declaration of Independence 593, 2501 

the Keely force a mistake 636, 637 

" coal and gas in this neighborhood 638, 639 

efforted on earth to uproot superstition, and mostly 

right 2343 

stood as a "true blue" 2345 

" admonishes to walk in middle of the road 767 

" speaks by trumpet 996 a-f 

yet battling old mythology 2346, 2347 



INDEX. 491 

Paragraphs. 

Paine, Thomas, had guidance to write common sense 2348 

not a Spiritualist 2482 

" Talmage, J. R. Francis, and judgment books 613-615 

on prayer, angels are our heavenly parent 826 

talked of the devil, and made a writing 854 

wrote Declaration of Independence, and Jefferson ar- 
ranged the order of it as it is now 2502 

admonishes not to talk to a rabble 2539 

could not speak at seance for want of conditions 2531 

does not talk from prejudice, but for truth 2538 

passed to higher life in peace 2349-2354 

Payne, author of "Home, Sweet Home" 467 

Peden, Darius, proving identity 176 

Pendulum, to time writings 200 

Phenomena, psychic, to counteract superstition 2783 

and rostrum 2187-2192 

modified by mentality and culture of medium 1924 

more of medium and less of spirit in proportion as the 

spirit has more or less perfect control 1925 

Phenomenal expression of mentality must, in a measure, be between 

that of the medium and spirit 1926-1928 

as intellectuality of medium and circle be high, so would 

a Lord Bacon be more able to personify himself 1928 

more ignorance on part of mortals than mispersonifi- 

cation of spirit 1929 

Photographic portrait of Lincoln 1130 

Photography and Star Circle 958, 959 

of spirit form by flashlight 1131 

and telegraphy promised 144 

"Wingless Victory" 1130 a 

1365-1368 

" starting results in 1555 

Physical phenomena 1196 

Photography, spirit 2023 

of thought 2851 

Pierpont, John 880. 1212 

Jonathan, writing 755-758 

Plato 216 

Plagiarism 2193-2207 

Planetary bodies all inhabited by human beings 2183 

collision, no danger of 2042 

Plants, insects, flowers, in spirit, ethereal essences of those of earth.. 2180 

Polarity of earth changes, evidences of , 1902 h 

Political situation 2416-2421 

result of present agitation 2590 

final result to United States of America 2501 

Portrait sketching, beginning of 884. 885 



492 RENDING THE TAIL. 

Paragraphs 
Portraits of materializations: 

Aber, Wesley 2767 

Benton, Thomas H 1167 

Bell, Charles R 1147 

Bruno, Giordano 578 

Bundy, J. C 1041 

Booth, Mary Elizabeth 1135 

Blue Water 1156 

Confucius. 1141 

Denton, William 1633 

Evans, the suicide 1615 

Faraday, Michael 2592 

Greenup, J. L 2930 

Greenup, Alice 1166 

Greenup, Mrs. J. F 1139 

Herman, Judge, suicided 1616 

Hupp, Deborah.... 1022 

Haughey, T. J 2888 

Hiram Abiff 927 

Home scene 1168 

Home scene in spirit 1169 

Huxley, Kate M 2922 

Jarboe, V. C 2889 

King, Father 2704 

Lindsay, Grandma H49 

Lamb, Dr. J. B 953 

Moore, Bessie 1164 

Mohammed 1132 

Nixon, Toms 203 

Nellie, control 1162 

Omar 1 1141 

Orondo, of Atlantis 830 c 

Owen, R. D 1151 

Paine, Thomas 2308 

Pratt, Mother 36 

Pratt, Nelson 1154 

Ravenscraft, Wm. H 1111 

Reed, Dr 617,1230 

Schmidt, Samuel 1160 

Sister Ann 992 

Shea Mona 1158 

Thacher, Judge S. O 2940 

Wagstaff, Judge W. R 2898 

Wilson, Augustus 2910 

Yerma, of Atlantis 2697-2701 

Value of 968, 970, 971 

Pratt, Mother 36 

" foster-child 38. 

" Fletcher 42 



INDEX. 495 

Paragraphs. 

Reed, Dr., writes with pen and ink 168, 169 a-g 

" talks while writing 177 

" in soliloquy 241 

" test of locking and unlocking desk 260, 261 

" test with knife and slip of paper 272-274 

Rachel Diogenes 600 

Raphael 600 

Rheumatism, Dr. Reed, citric acid 641-644 

Rousseau 91 



S. 

Sacerdotalism: priesthood, ministry, go-betweens 1564-1566 

growing less powerful 1570 

draws a circle, puts a man inside, bids him stay in or 

go to hell 157S 

and natural religion compared 1579-1580 

Salvation, not by an immense machinery of theological dogmas 1695 

only in becoming full grown in harmony with natural law.. .1694 

Sam 71 

" unlocks desk 139 

" plays castanets 154 c-d 

" orders desk placed 168 

" announced that G. H. Walser and wife would be beneficial 

members of circle 168 

" boy Fritzie repeats Lord's prayer 215 

" helps place writing-desk 240 

" intellectual test 94,95 

" handles tablets 124 e 

" unlocks desk 139 

" going to advocate his own mind 220 a 

" on life and soul transmission of identity in kind, new birth. .476-479 

" took subject: "Planetary Inhabitants" 559 

" climatic changes for dyspeptics 567, 568 

" witticisms 297 

" played a pun 321 b 

" manner of appearances 321 c 

" mirthful colloquy, "shootin' stars," meteorites, how planetary 

equilibrium 398-400 

" on electric current 404 

" on seating circle 405 

" and Fritzie 407 

" calls secretary down 476 

" makes a speech 477-479 

" discusses dignity and intellectuality of these literary efforts 497 

" it took God 40 days in Sinai, but one of these could write the 

whole business in less than 30 minutes 498 



496 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 
Savior cannot be any manner of intervention to blot out one's own 

memory 2434 

Sargent, Epes, address 304 a-f 

vocalizes fairly well 502y 2 

Seance, definition 1193 

room 1170 

Seances began at Mrs. Smith's residence 147 

January 21, 1891, vocalizations to a wonderful degree 257 

renewed after six years 863 

Seasons 2625 

Secretary, business of, as to minutes, and spirits criticise 609 

Sceptic will be sceptical 311, 312 

Science has its victories 2601 

Scientific syllogism 2685-2687 

corollaries ..2688-2691 

Seance-room diagram 1170 

Schools, abolition of terrorizing, favorable effect ...1436 

what this proves 1437 

should inculcate seeking after spiritual knowledge 1517 

" in spirit world 1551-1554 

in spirit life reveal to man as man opens the way 1557 

in spirit have astronomy, chemistry, art, political economy, 

1871-1877 

" of earth for learning schemes, and when learned the pupil 
becomes a citizen of another country whose geography is 

not allowed in earth schools 2438, 2439 

" of earth do not allow one single true purpose of existence 

taught, but children taught to lie 2440 

filled with false teaching 2441 

of unprofitable learning 2532 

should be taught more spirituality 2533, 2534 

should eliminate every vestige of false theology 2535 

are not free secular 2536 

of spirit life, many thousand teachers, methods differ 

from earth schools 2184 

" of spirit life have pupils make their own books 2185, 2186 

Shelton, George W 1037 

Sheridan, Gen . 112 ; 

Sheridan, to Capt. Haughey .222 

"See that my grave is kept green." 124 h 

Sherman, Gen., and Grant 414-418 

Solard, Gracie, dancing 112 i 

Soul, never but once leaves the body 365 

" definition of 367 

not much difference except as to definition 1735 

Denton's definition of 1736 

" must exclude all ideas of materiality 1737 

" and mind relation 1739, 1800-1804 

is life individualized 245 



INDEX. 497 

Paragraphs. 
Space, relative extent, indestructibility of innate powers of matter, 

2651-2653 

Speech, whisper 871 

Spirit forms, two children, then three side by side 464 

two adult forms rise together 465 

forms mostly of women at this seance 469 

" Bancroft 475 

" Mary House with little Ruthie Long 514 

Dr. Kitridge says he is of New Haven, and had reported to 

Banner of Light , 516 

Redfield and smut-mill 531 

Dr. J. B. Lamb writes 537 

" Swedenborg speaks and Sam interprets .... 545 a-c 

magnetism and galvanic current may work together, first mes- 
sage this way 549-555 

" forms, self-luminous 646 

John Adams 677-684 

Washington 677-684 

Lincoln 677-684 

" Henry Clay 677-684 

Garfield 677-684 

Grant 677-684 

Bruno 684 

Joan of Arc 685 

forms, how identity of ancients known? by oft-proven known 

ones 650 

Epes Sargent ; . . . . 705 

Col. Sam Wood and his widowed wife meet face to face 748 

forms, three children side by side 587 

then faded away as a cloud in dry weather 588 

" no false faces , 589 

not much affected by storm 591 

seven or eight in quick succession arose in arena and 

vanished 563, 661 

wonderful change of robes: in arena, passed into room and 

back and down like a dart 604 

and position of secretary 605 

Spirits that desire can take cognizance of all we say and do 610 

Spiritualists not all pure 616 

Spirit photography 289, 290, 300 

and medium both seen at same time 292 

forms, measuring heights 326 

" forms measured, list of 329 

Cotubamana, 8 feet tall 330-336 

form elongation 337 

" oral speech 339 a 

oral speech on same principles as common speech 340 

materialized vocal organs 341 



498 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Spirit Denton and the horseradish 242 

the soul never but once entirely leaves body 365 

" life, definition of 367 a 

" woman and child 368 

forms, three, then four at once 369, 370 

photo negatives without camera 420 

artists, construct of spirit ether 442 

Reed, architecture 442, 443 

" of man described 1424, 1425, 1497, 1498 

no one nor angel, not an emanation of the human race 1608 

" cannot know of anything he cannot see or traverse 1609 

Spirits see earthly things through the human aura 1609 

do not subsist as do mortals 1610 

" subsist by absorptions 1611-1614 

Spirit passing to spirit life does not impart omnipotence or omni- 
science 1653 

always under rule of law 1652 

light of, will safely guide 1658-1660 

" has made much advance, but there remains work to do. .1666-1669 

" immortal self-conscious force 1705 

may be considered refined matter 1714 

" without it, man a broken pillar 1734 

intercourse, natural 1806-1810 

able, ultimately, to construct a world 1850 

Spirits, all, once men and women, lived in corporal organisms on 

this or some other earth 1862 

" transferred to spirit life by death 1863 

Spirit world, beauty, melody and happiness 1336 

" controls the world of man in national politics 1422 a-c 

" gives the highest code of morals 1423 a-c 

" worlds innumerable, large and small 1476 

" birth 1549-1554 

" photography 2011 

permeates all space 2051 

" not by any mechanical means perceptible to physical senses.. 2116 

" perceptible by spirits 2117 

" return the only hope of the world 2126 

" spheres, higher life 1500 

" zones, higher life 1503 

realms, higher life 1502 

" world vast ethereal globe 1836 

diagram at 1172 

Spirit spheres, denizens of, would have stated times to make revela- 
tions 1501 

" from them mortals receive most of their inventions. .1503 

no night there 1654 

their time measured by emotions 1654 a 

" " there dark places to darkened souls 1654 h 



INDEX. 499 

Paragraphs. 

Spirit spheres, vastly more wonderful than the physical 1818-1820 

" " revealing facts upon which to base reconstruction. 1821-1824 

Spirit world, vast in size, beyond the planetary zones, traversing 

space 1836, 1837 

" " see diagram at 1172 

Spirits stand in gateway between heaven and earth 1864 

" many of them, ignorant of their ability to control mediums. . .1866 
" some for a time undergo severe punishment, yet no hell 

other than the spirit takes with it I860 

position determined how 1920, 1921 a 

Spirit oral speech, philosophy of 339-342 

life, realities of, beyond mortal conception 2127 

" guides 2211 

" realms, eliminated refined atomic activity 1975 

dwelling-place of 1976 

world, everywhere 2378 

" " degrees infinite, but we may generalize into six 2379 

the poorly prepared enters lowest, and must work up 2380 

" spheres, beyond all is sublimated ethereal 2381 

subject to disease only sympathetic 2383 

" spheres, passing through 2465 

see diagram at 1172 

are many and all inhabited 2466 

" magnetism 2484 

" ether receives impress of everything 2541 

Spiritual hosts a vast army 2500 

Spirit material 2612 

force great agent of intellectual growth 2616 

" character to be controlling power of universe 2664 

spheres, why differently reported 2703 

" return, advantages of 2123 

if any, then all 2144 

ether, composition of 2156, 2157 

" can withstand fire 2281 

" infused in earth at beginning of earth structure 2282-2284 

" wife of O. L. Concannon 858 

" life the real 2305 

" force, how it moves bodies 191 a-e 

" writing machine 224 

" business to try and relieve man of spiritual ignorance 2128 

" not ignorant when first born 2233 d 

Spirits modify lantern-light as they wish 762-764 

have difficulties 2264 

" interested in welfare of mortals 2406 

" have power to avert or modify impending danger 2474, 2475 

" cannot express as they desire 694 a, b 

to them the world is indebted for nearly all it has, even in 

physics 2486 



500 RENDING TEE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Spirits yet in prison 2548-2556 

business to show future life and its relations 1941, 1942 

able to demonstrate future life 2608 

" and show continuous organic existence by these manuscripts. .2609 

" hope to arouse public interest - 2610 

" withdrawn from oracles 2557, 2558 

Spirit an evolution of life naturally attracted to native earth 2661 

Spirits have power of inductive electrical thought transfer 2662, 2663 

" could send power to sun, but the return would 2669 

congenial to one's own nature attracted 2703 e 

move in circles adapted to their state 2133 

clouds of 109 

" can read thoughts and any book 227 

" return, difficult to comprehend the process 2594 

hope to perfect knowledge of spirit life 2595 

work for the whole world , 2596, 2597 

have a law holding teachers of error to account 259S 

" have no antagonistic passions 2599 

" can hardly express natural spirit law in earth language 2600 

Spirit life a continuation of passions of earth 2603 

power good if used aright 2604 

return hope of the future * 2605 

" can put forth greater powers 2607 

Spirits, purpose of this band 2777 

" discern old theologies breaking away 2780 

" communion with good, commended by sacred writings of all 

people 2795 

" attracted to persons of their like 2800 

will sow the seed if mortals prepare the ground 2825 

" conversing do not use words — thought is discernible 2852 

" in mutual harmony converse more easily 2853 

" visit each other from sphere to sphere 1824 

Spiritual body can temporarily leave the physical. 1362, 1363 

" " what it proves , 1364 

" sin, the greatest is yourself 2382 

books and library 2826-2829 

" literature distorted while passing through brain of medium 

unless 2834 

Spiritualism in its religion beyond the creeds 1239 

" founded on facts 1243 

its objective aim: universal brotherhood 1244 

a philosophy higher than schools can give 1245 

dawning of a new revelation 1246 

" the less spiritualized 1251 

effect, human churches 1252 

its facts flash light 1260 

" makes an influx of thought 1261 

in it nations meet in peace 1261 a 



INDEX. 501 

Paragraphs. 

Spiritualism unfolds grand scheme of creation 1262 

it traces life 1263, 1264 

" shows in all things organization of man 1265 

shows nothing as supernatural 1266 

unlocks shackles 1267 

road of sceptic to light 1268 a-f 

" against any priesthood 1270 

sure to move on 1272 

a religion of its own 1276 

radiates truths of universe 177, 1278 

scientific religion 1319 

" has been thought from the devil 1329 

but contrary to what the Bible says 1330 

has taught more truth in fifty years than all others in 

five hundred 1332 

has aroused minds 1332 c 

is banishing false 1332 e 

is a growth in its phenomena and philosophy 1338 a-f 

as everything, has success only by close observance of 

its laws 1340-1343 

shows death is only parturition into higher life 1344 

requires a life-time of study : . . . . 1357 

demands investigation 1371 

destructive of superstition 1372 

destroys infidelity 1373 

though clergy denounce, many of them hunger after it.. 1374 

universal confirmation of Nature 1384 

recognized in faith, denied in practice 1385 

duration of 1391, 1512 

scope of 1394 

present designs of 1443, 1444 

in all parts of the world, its opponents know least 

about it, what good? 1517%-1520 

a cure, not a cause of crime 1581-1584 

a preventer, not a cause of insanity 1585 

is for all 1831 

breaks down revelation through a glorified son. .. .1832-1834 

sets aside central dogma of Christian religion 1834 

embraced by people of learning and science 1840-1847 

exhorts to abandon traditions 1849 

higher in rank than the churches 1639 

soon be the religion of the world 1644 

has rubbish of ages to clear away 1647 

is a vestibule into depths of truth 1891 

the only religion not invented 2311 

the highest religion 2369 

found the whole earth agnostic 2453 

" opens heaven's windows 2454 



502 BENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Spiritualism unfathomable 2455 

as looking from Alleghanies toward Rockies 2456-2459 

beautiful child, denounced 2460 

teaches that all are of one parentage 2479 

teaches that spirit life is a pure democracy 2480 

the bread of life 2503 

as a science, efficacious 2581 b 

not the ism, but the science 2582 

builds up as well the moral and spiritual 2784 

a general diffusion of, as a flood of glorious sunlight.2787-2790 

teaches to cultivate good within 2792 

is beneficial in transition 288 1 

as the science of life — the hope of the world 2584 

oldest religion 2249 

expose of 2289 

greatest purifier 2772 

Star Circle 210, 1171, 1567, 1568 

Storms, necessary 2771 

Suicide, Evans 1092%, 1615 

Herman, John F ...1102, 1616 

" awful record of daily press 1617 

causes, consequence, cure 1618 

greatest sin because against his own interior holy spirit, 

1619, 1620-1629 

Sun, great central ."2222 

" heat 2047 

" spots 2049 

" ball of fire inhabited 2050 

" more controlling planetary motions than seasons 2629 

Supernatural, absurdity of 1469, 1470 

Symbols: wayside flowers, babbling brook, climbing the mountain, 

sowing seeds 1894-1899 

Sympathy 1591-1594 



Talking in tongues 99 

" while writing, Reed 177 

Tablets locked in desk 138 

clean and locked up 154 a, b 

Telegraphy 524 

without wire to battery 525 

in ten years, by natural electro-magnetic currents 526 

E. K. Coffin makes amusement over telegraph 551 

Test cases, Denton first, in materialization 11 

" the sealed envelope 119 b 

" Bajazet 120 

" both spirit and medium in view at once 149, 150 



INDEX. 503 

Paragraphs. 

Test of seance No. 24 216 

man and child forms 924 

" two men and child forms 924 a, b 

" of sketching portrait 986y 2 -992, 1022 a-m, 1111, 1115, 1124-1129 

" one writing, another at cabinet door 309 

spirits know best 321 

Reed writes under 503Mj, 504 

" Denton sends Sam for paper 507, 508 

" as to time of execution of writings 227-234 b 

" Reed so tears leaf as to make a test 519 

of medium's linen duster 530 a 

David Cook, dematerializatlon 532, 534 

spirit Madison Clark to his father in the physical 627 

no way from cabinet into arena except that in sight of circle. . . .656 

Denton and a child form 656 

etherealizations 657, 658 

" two forms 689 

as one in arena wrote, a child form in cabinet door 690, 691 

" spirit Denton showing medium to all the circle 706, 707 

woman and child 719 

for new members of circle 876 

" by Bessie, mental 882 

" Bessie singing 877 

three child and a woman forms at same time 734 

Thomas Paine and three forms 735 

" infant form grows gradually to adult size 761 

" seances 772 

Buddha and others make up and go down 777 

one leaves its clothing standing and another rises right up 

into the standing clothing 777% 

" forms pass out through window-glass 778-780 

Reed wrote and stamped all the papers 789 

of stamping 791 

of writing on handkerchiefs and palm of hand •. . .797, 798 

forms in strong light 811 

forms in bright light 812 

" of forms seated in chair 836-839 

elongation illustrated 840-843 

" Denton writing with Mr. Clark's pencil 844 

" question, "What is the greatest force in the universe?". .846 

leads in 847-852 

Theodosius 1074 

Theology invokes Government to shut off the only way that man 

may know of eternal life 2367 

sends spiritual paupers to spirit life 2367 a 

study of, the study of nothing 2312 n 

effect of in spirit life 2577-2578 



504: RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Theosophy strikes the country 2442, 2467 

and the whole of Moses: "I am holier than thou." 2468 

never taught by Jesus 2469 

Thinking 2265 a-e 

Thought, brain requirements ■ 1274 

such requirements explain the difference of ideas of re- 
ligious thinkers 1274 a 

of scientific minds in spirit relating to those of the religious. .1275 

the life principle of, the great center of intelligence 1332 b 

being photographed 2851 

substance perceivable in spirit, tangibility of 2849, 2850 

Titian, Venetian artist 600 

first sketch 885 

" second sketch , 889 

Trance 1999-2001 

Transcoloring 82 

Transfiguration 105 

Transitions 2861-2948 

Chilesworth, Dr 2861-2870 

Haughey, T. J 2871-2888 

Jarboe, V. C 2889-2897 

Wagstaff, Wm. R.. 2898-2909 

Wilson, Augustus 2912-2920 

Huxley, Kate M 2923-2929 

Greenup, J. L 2932-2939 

Thacher, S. O '. 2942-2948 

Trumpet voice 872 

singing 983 

Truth has nothing to be ashamed of 1700 

" Denton here to utter 1700 

U. 

Unity of spiritual and moral universe 1677 

Universal harmony 2288 

Universe, Denton's marvelous grasp, demensions and unity of 1670-1675 

study of physical should teach the equal perfection of 
moral and spiritual, and that positive evil cannot exist, 

1676-1680 

considerations of, knock bottom out of special miracles, 
providences, and efficaciousness of prayer for soul- 
change 1681-1686 

" who governs ? 2120 

great central sun of interior universe a myth 2222-2224 

V. 

Vail, if lifted softly, reveals congenial faces 2857, 2858 

Vanish 1191 



IXDEX. 505 

Paragraphs 

Vestibule to truth 1891 

" according to clergy, the only one is the Church 1893 

Vision, made of motion 2243-2245 

microscopic 2016 

Vocalization, philosophy of 339-342 

definition 1189 

Voice, independent 870 

Voltaire 91 



W. 

Wagner 1082 

Ward, Artemus 237 

Washington, Martha, lady angel 181 

writes an essay 182 

Wealth, enduring 1401 

evanescent •. 1402 a 

Weighing the spirits 163, 164 a-j 

Wing Leaf, Chinaman 582 

made characters at 813 

William, Emperor 648 

Willis, Dr 751 

Wilson, Augustus 955 

Wilson, E. V., considers questions 159 

writes 172 

wishes he could talk like Paine 249, 696 

" on psychometry 418 

Woman and babe 39 

" form floats in air Ill k 

Wood, Col. Sam 675, 676, 816 a-c 

Woman, her mission 1317 

and her mission 2445-2448 

Worlds, very large and numerous 259 

Writing, pendulum to time 200 

Reed, by pendulum, made 142 words in 42 seconds 201 

made 5 words per second 206 

Faraday over 5 words per second 207 

by Denton 208 

by King • 209 

Star Circle 210 

" by Reed, machine 224 

swiftness considered 229 

by Faraday 230 

by Paine, 17 words per second 231 

three different methods of considering the time 232-236 

by Reed 241 

by Denton 242 

by Faraday, change of seasons 243 



506 RENDING THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Writing, by King 244 

by Reed 251 

strange, by a spirit, Denton says, who lived 25,000 years ago. .253 a 

by Faraday , 256 

by Denton 255 

by Judge Edmonds 296 

by Dr. Lamb 324 

by Judge Wimmer 325 

by R. D. Owen 362 

by Reed 155, 183, 261, 272-274 

" 800 words per minute 408 

iy 2 words per second 434-440 

3744 letters in 1 minute 459,460 

465 words in 1 minute 470 

680 words in 1 minute 512 

500 words in 70 seconds 143,1273 

314 words in 37 seconds 151 a-g 

by Dr. Lamb 324 

by Wing Leaf 540, 541 

signed "Will Denton," but likely not Prof. Denton, why. .263 &, 264 

by a stranger 265 a-c 

by Denton 1664 

staggers Prof. T. C. Buddington down to automatons 281 

wonderful, of Denton's 1 282, 1670 

" by Reed, of powerful logic, amazes the visitor 283 

" by King on Government 170 

" by Hare, social question, very rapidly 171 

by E. V. Wilson 172 

by Faraday 173 

by Denton 174,1639 

by Reed, mistake of Church 179 

death and new birth 179 

in similitude of tree 179 

by Denton, transition 180 

" by Martha Washington 182 

by Paine 184 

by Denton 185 

by E. V. Wilson 186 

by King * 189 a-f 

by Faraday 189 a-f 

1107 words, by six different spirits in less than 4 minutes. .189 a-f 

Greek 73-80 

in tongues 100 

amazing, rapidity of 101 

a crucial test of 102 a, 6, c 

rapidity of execution 103 

special test for Haughey 106, 107 

" table or desk 110 



INDEX. 507 

Paragraphs. 

Writing, by Denton, Faraday Ill / 

by Father King Ill g 

by Reed 112 f, 116, 117 a-g, 120 c-d 

desk with lock and key 138 

by Faraday 142 

by Reed, Owen, Faraday, Denton and King 152 a-i 

" by Paine, first essay 156 

by Reed, pen and ink 168, 169 a-g 

by Mary House 597-599 

amazing rapidity of 712 

by Toms Nixon 732, 733 

by Faraday, 1200 words per minute 787, 2671 

rate of 2670 

the swiftest 787, 788 



Y. 
Yerma 889, 2701 



Zones, or belts of earth, similar to those of Jupiter, habitation of 

spirits out of the body 1914-1919 



r r W i hi ♦ >r 



